Tortoise Cowry
Chelycypraea testudinaria
- Usual depth10–13 m
- Water temperature25–30 °C
- Best monthsJuly
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Leon Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Chelycypraea testudinaria, common name the tortoise cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. It is the only species in the genus Chelycpraea.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Chelycypraea”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 9 records
- February: 15 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 2 records
- May: 7 records
- June: 11 records
- July: 47 records
- August: 12 records
- September: 9 records
- October: 9 records
- November: 3 records
- December: 4 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 10–13 m · Deepest record: 13 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–30 °C
Photos
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Tortoise Cowry, Tortoise Shell Cowry
Names in 2 more languages
- Japanese
- ムラクモダカラ
- Simplified Chinese
- 叢雲寶螺
Other scientific names: Callistocypraea (Chelycypraea) testudinaria, Callistocypraea testudinaria, Cypraea testudinaria, Cypraea testudinosa
Similar species
Kiener's CowryBistolida kieneri
Sieve cowrieCribrarula cribraria
Tiger cowrieCypraea tigris
- Thick-edged cowry
Erronea caurica
- Mistaken cowrie
Erronea errones
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 238 open-data records from 1758 to 2006.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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