Calf Cowrie

Lyncina vitellus

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–36 m
Water temperature4–30 °C
Best monthsJuly
How commonOccasional

About this species

Lyncina vitellus, common name : the calf cowry or the Pacific deer cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lyncina vitellus”, 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: 44 records
February: 25 records
March: 24 records
April: 19 records
May: 39 records
June: 28 records
July: 219 records
August: 33 records
September: 26 records
October: 26 records
November: 22 records
December: 37 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–36 m · Deepest record: 60 m

0–10 m: 33 records
10–20 m: 8 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 4–30 °C

2–4 °C: 1 records
4–6 °C: 0 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 3 records
20–22 °C: 28 records
22–24 °C: 44 records
24–26 °C: 91 records
26–28 °C: 80 records
28–30 °C: 115 records

Names and classification

English: Calf Cowrie, Calf Cowry, Milk-spot Cowrie, Milk-spotted Cowry, Pacific Deer Cowry

Names in 5 more languages

French: Porcelaine-cerf
Japanese: ホシキヌタ
Korean: 제주개오지
Thai: หอยเบี้ยกวางดาวใหญ่
Simplified Chinese: 白星寶螺

Other scientific names: Cypraea (Lyncina) vitellus, Cypraea dama, Cypraea subfuscula, Cypraea vitellus, Luponia salita, Mystaponda orcina, Mystaponda vitellus

Similar species

Carnelian Cowry
Lyncina carneola
Bobcat cowrie
Lyncina lynx
Kiener's Cowry
Bistolida kieneri
Sieve cowrie
Cribrarula cribraria
Tiger cowrie
Cypraea tigris
Thick-edged cowry
Erronea caurica

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).
1,384 open-data records from 1758 to 2023.

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