Lyncina leviathan

Species of gastropod

Lyncina leviathan

A shell of Lyncina leviathan leviathan from Hawaii, anterior end towards the left
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Mollusca
Class:  | Gastropoda
Subclass:  | Caenogastropoda
Order:  | Littorinimorpha
Family:  | Cypraeidae
Genus:  | Lyncina
Species:  |

L. leviathan

Binomial name
Lyncina leviathan

Schilder & Schilder, 1937

Synonyms[1]

* Cypraea leviathan (Schilder & Schilder, 1937)

Lyncina leviathan is a species of tropical sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]

## Description

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The shells of these cowries reach on average 60 millimetres (2.4 in) of length, with a minimum size of 22 millimetres (0.87 in) and a maximum size of 98 millimetres (3.9 in). The dorsum surface of these elongated, smooth and shiny shells is pink-salmon, crossed by darker bands. The base is whitish or pale pinkish or pale brown, with a long and wide aperture with several teeth. In the living cowries the mantle is brownish, almost transparent and well developed, with external antennae and several sensorial tree-shaped papillae. This species is superficially similar to Lyncina carneola.

A shell of Lyncina leviathan leviathan from Hawaii, lateral view, anterior end towards the left | A shell of Lyncina leviathan leviathan from Hawaii, dorsal view, anterior end towards the left | Apertural view of a shell of Lyncina leviathan leviathan

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## Distribution

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Lyncina leviathan is common throughout the tropical Indian (East Africa, Red Sea) and the central Pacific Oceans, in the sea along Thailand, Australia, Polynesia and Hawaii.

## Habitat

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They inhabit rocky intertidal areas and caves in very shallow water, but they can reach up to 40 metres (130 ft) of depth.

## Subspecies

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Three subspecies are known:

* Lyncina leviathan leviathan Schilder & Schilder, 1937\- leviathan cowry, endemic to Hawaii
* Lyncina leviathan bouteti Burgess & Arnette, 1981\- Boutet's leviathan cowry, found throughout Polynesia
* Lyncina leviathan titan Schilder & Schilder, 1962\- titanic cowry, found throughout the Indian and central Pacific Oceans

## References

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1. ^ a b WoRMS : Lyncina leviathan; accessed : 17 October 2010

* Lorenz F. & Hubert A. (2000) A guide to worldwide cowries. Edition 2. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 584 pp
* Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey

## Bibliography

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* Cowrie Genetic Database Project

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lyncina leviathan.

* Biolib
* On-line articles with Cypraea leviathan in the HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS (1960-1994) Hawaiian shell
* Clade
* Underwater

Taxon identifiers

Lyncina leviathan|

* Wikidata: Q6708513
* AFD: Lyncina_leviathan
* BOLD: 31159
* CoL: 3WSGC
* EoL: 4854194
* GBIF: 4608086
* iNaturalist: 501083
* IRMNG: 11409507
* NCBI: 218027
* OBIS: 529741
* Paleobiology Database: 343007
* WoRMS: 529741

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