Fantastic Cowries of Micronesia

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In the following section you will see a number of nice, rare or unusual Cypraeidae from the Kwajalein Atoll and some other small islands in Micronesia. Until a few years ago, little has been known about the cowries from this area, and subsequently there were some surprises when the first larger series reached the attention of taxonomists. For instance the famous stolida kwajaleinensis, lutea coccinella and the lovely mappa eluceta. But there are even more...
Click on the name to see an image of the shells...

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Name	Size (mm)	Data	No.
beckii	15	Kwajalein, -form, dwarf	8-10
bistrinotata mediocris	12 - 17	Variation from Kwajalein, bright orange	12-1
bistrinotata mediocris	15	Kwajalein, jandeprezi-form, very rare	8-33
childreni	13 - 17	Kwajalein Atoll, typical, gems, two on left	65-1
childreni	13 - 17	whitish form, second from right	65-2
childreni	23,7	giant, only one, fine+ (on right)	65-3
chinensis amiges	35 - 40	Kwajalein, a pale variation	43-1
cicercula	14-19	Kwajalein Atoll, typical Micronesian form	2-5
gaspardi	14	Kwajalein Atoll, recognized a valid species on account of DNA studies	87-2
cribraria	20	Kwajalein Atoll, typical Micronesian shell	87-3
gaspardi	14 - 17	Kwajalein Atoll, small, large lacunae	87-4
depressa	40 - 45	Kwajalein, very heavy	19-7
depressa	36	Kwajalein, melanistic	19-8
gaskoinii	19 - 22	Hawaii, strange large elongate form	67-1
labrolineata	16	Kwajalein Form, rare	45-3
johnsonorum	10 - 12	Kwajalein Atoll, endemic. Very rare, livecollected	89-1
johnsonorum	15	Kwajalein Atoll, endemic. Very rare, livecollected, large	89-2
lutea coccinella	13 - 14	Kwajalein Atoll, endemic. Very rare, livecollected, very slightly subadult	89-2
mappa eluceta	63	Kawjalein Atoll, pink base, heavy gem	24-1
mappa eluceta	64	Kawjalein Atoll, blotched base, dark gem	24-2
margarita	12 - 17	Kwajalein, typical, nice	32-1
mariae suluensis	15	Kwajalein, on left: holotype from Sulu Sea, on right. fresh specimen with very small spots on base	33-6
martinii	13 - 15	Kwajalein, the true form, translucent	99-1
martinii	13 - 15	Kwajalein, the true form, globular	99-2
martinii	16	Kwajalein, the true form, large	99-3
microdon	8-9	Enewetak, Micronesian variation	11-1
nucleus	17 - 21	Kwajalein Atoll, typical form from Micronesia	15-1
poraria	12 - 16	Kwajalein variation, so far unnamed, strange translucent pink colour, rare	106-1
punctata	9-10	Kwajalein, "atomaria" - Micronesian variation	176-2
Pustularia var.	14	Enewetak, unusual rostrated shell	31-3
Pustularia var.	12	Kwajalein Atoll. Translucent white, with four transverse bands and longitudinal sulci on labral side ?subadult	87-7
sp. cf. cribraria	14	Kwajalein Atoll, very elongate, rostrate, plain white dorsum, pitted margins	51-3
stolida kwajaleinensis	22 - 28	Kwajalein, various colour forms	44-1/7
teres sp.	19 - 21	Kwajalein, not subteres although very similar, another one here	37-1/2
ursellus	9 - 4	Kwajalein Atoll, interesting pair, very rare livecollected	78-5