Tiger cowrie
Cypraea tigris
- Usual depth1–16 m
- Water temperature22–30 °C
- Best monthsJuly
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Rickard Zerpe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Cypraea tigris, commonly known as the tiger cowrie, is a species of cowry, a large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cypraea tigris”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 225 records
- February: 205 records
- March: 257 records
- April: 225 records
- May: 242 records
- June: 259 records
- July: 500 records
- August: 254 records
- September: 243 records
- October: 292 records
- November: 245 records
- December: 203 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–16 m · Deepest record: 44 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C
Photos
(c) Diogo Luiz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Tiger cowrie, tiger cowrie
Names in 2 more languages
- German
- Tigerkauri, Tigerschnecke
- Japanese
- ホシダカラ
Other scientific names: Cypraea (Vulgusella) tigris
Similar species
Kiener's CowryBistolida kieneri
Sieve cowrieCribrarula cribraria
- Thick-edged cowry
Erronea caurica
- Mistaken cowrie
Erronea errones
- Dirty-yellow cowrie
Luria isabella
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).
- 1,333 open-data records from 1758 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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