Coverage

There are 51 species of Cypraeidae recorded from NSW. The 12 that occur most commonly around Sydney are figured here and the remaining species are listed below.

Some caution is needed in interpreting the list of cowries which occur in NSW. Cowries have been intensively collected and recorded in NSW over the last two hundred years, which has resulted in the existence of specimens in collections and of records out of proportion to their frequency of occurrence. Thus, for some of the species in the list below, the southern limit of the range is based on only one or two specimens collected in the last hundred years.

Species widespread in the tropical Indo-West Pacific and uncommonly or rarely occurring in NSW:

• Cypraea arabica Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific, to Shellharbour, NSW.

• Cypraea carneola Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific, to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea caurica Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea chinensis Gmelin, 1791. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea contaminata Sowerby, 1832. Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, NSW.

• Cypraea cribraria Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Smoky Cape, NSW.

• Cypraea eglantina Duclos, 1833. Indo-West Pacific to Smoky Cape, NSW.

• Cypraea eburnea Barnes, 1824. Indo-West Pacific to Wooli, NSW, plus subfossil from Sydney Harbour.

• Cypraea errones Linnaeus, 1758 (Synonyms Erronea nimiserrans Iredale, 1935; Erronea magerrones Iredale, 1939). Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea gracilis Gaskoin, 1849 (Synonym Cupinota macula (Angas, 1867)). Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea hammondae (Iredale, 1939). Central Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, off Coffs Harbour, NSW

• Cypraea helvola Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea hirundo Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea isabella Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea kieneri Hidalgo, 1906 (Synonym Evanaria ursellus marcia Iredale, 1939). Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea limacina Lamarck, 1810 (Synonym Purperosa facifer Iredale, 1935). Indo-West Pacific to Shellharbour, NSW.

• Cypraea lutea Gmelin, 1791 (Synonym Cypraea humphreysii Gray, 1825). Central Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea lynx Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Clarence R. plus subfossils from Sydney Harbour.

• Cypraea mappa Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, NSW.

• Cypraea mauritiana Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Maclean, NSW.

• Cypraea miliaris Gmelin, 1791 (Synonym Erosaria metavona Iredale, 1935). Indo-West Pacific; known in NSW only as subfossils from Sydney Harbour.

• Cypraea minoridens Melvill, 1901. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea nucleus Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, NSW.

• Cypraea poraria Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea punctata Linnaeus, 1771 (Synonym Evenaria iredalei Schilder & Schilder, 1938). Indo-West Pacific to Clarence R., NSW.

• Cypraea scurra Gmelin, 1791. Indo-West Pacific to Broken Bay, NSW.

• Cypraea staphylaea Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea subviridis Reeve, 1835 (Synonym Solvadusta vaticina Iredale, 1931). Indo-West Pacific to Port Stephens, NSW plus subfossil from Sydney Harbour.

• Cypraea talpa Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Smoky Cape, NSW.

• Cypraea teres Gmelin, 1791 (Synonyms Talostolida subteres hermanni Iredale, 1939; Talostolida teres pentella Iredale, 1939). Indo-West Pacific to Sydney, NSW.

• Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, NSW.

• Cypraea ursellus Gmelin, 1791. Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, NSW.

• Cypraea walkeri Sowerby, 1832. Indo-West Pacific; known in NSW only as subfossils from Sydney Harbour.

• Cypraea ziczac Linnaeus, 1758. Indo-West Pacific to Solitary Islands, NSW.

One species is endemic to eastern Australia:

Cypraea xanthodon Sowerby, 1832. Torres Strait to Sydney, NSW.

Species with a southern Australian distribution, rarely occurring in southern NSW:

• Cypraea angustata Gmelin, 1791 (Synonyms Notocypraea emblema Iredale, 1931; Notocypraea verconis Cotton & Godfrey, 1932; Thelxinovum molleri Iredale, 1931). Montague Is., NSW, to Great Australian Bight.

• Cypraea comptonii Gray, 1847. Eden, NSW, to south-western WA.

• Cypraea piperita Gray, 1825 (Synonyms Notocypraea dissecta Iredale, 1931; Notocypraea bicolor (Gaskoin, 1849)). Central NSW, to south-western WA.