Lndr 0 Posted June 25, 2006 This cowrie was on soft coral in 9m water @ Port Stephens (Australia). It was approx 15mm long and active during the day. Anyone have an ID? Have other views / more detail if req'd... thanx Leander Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kriptap 0 Posted June 25, 2006 Nice Cowrie, hate the copyright that goes staright through the middle of the image though,. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted June 25, 2006 yeah, so do I - not as much as finding my pics on other web sites though ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslie 0 Posted June 25, 2006 Hi Leander! Good to see you posting inverts again It's family Ovulidae, Pseudosimnia marginata. Who's been nasty enough to repost your shots? Were they taken from Wetpixel or another site? At least the criminals had the good taste to steal from the best! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted June 25, 2006 Thanks a bunch Leslie !! There were so few living animals in my reference books! ... I've found my shots in online "photo competitions" ... <_< not sure if from here or another site. I wasn't expecting the copyright to be an issue it may have been a bit more prominent than aesthetically pleasing ... but it was an ID shot, I was in a hurry and wanted to share the critter !?! I've always given my pics, unmolested, to critter folks when they've asked to use them B) Haven't found many unidentifiable things lately. I did find one cowrie-esque mollusc the other day ...I got a shot but I was playing with my 10.5mm lens and natural light at 30m! I have a backlog of nudis I sent to SSF last year if you're bored Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kriptap 0 Posted June 25, 2006 Know what you mean, had it happen just last week, but I got to the bottom of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cookmedoc 0 Posted July 3, 2006 Indeed an Ovulidae, but rather Prionovolva pudica. If the thing is about 16 mm. Great shot, good we see part of the dorsum. Guido Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslie 0 Posted July 4, 2006 Hi Guido -- Is there a book (or several) besides the typical guidebooks which include photo pictures of cowries & ovulids with their mantles extended? Which have more reliable identifications? I called this ovulid P. marginata based on an image in either Debelius or Coleman (I forget which & my books are back at home). How likely are the mantle color patterns to be diagnostic at the species level? Cheers, Leslie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cookmedoc 0 Posted July 5, 2006 Hello Leslie, no such thing exists as yet. The usual problem between the photo and the "jar" with the animal that is not collected - I can't blame anybody because we also photograph and don't take the animals unless it's a VERY RARE shell, which almost never happens because rare shells have the unfortunate property of being rare. Debelius figures a lot. In most shellbooks there are a few sparse photos. This is a problem for the family as Ovulids have also a sexual dimorphism in many species and the shell shapes are MOST PROBABLY depending from the gorgonians they eat and live on. So, it is important to collect the "two" specimen if they are sitting together as often the case and to figure them somewhere on a place as this one here. Guido Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslie 0 Posted July 9, 2006 Yes, the usual problem. It's especially frustrating with shelled molluscs because there are so many images available of the shells but so few of the living animals. Google gave me 450+ hits for P. pudica, all but one of the images were of shells, and the one living animal was actually P. pudica wilsonia which has a different mantle color pattern. Thanks for the id lesson -- Leslie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave H 0 Posted July 9, 2006 Hmmmm, I'll throw a spanner in the ring and say that this cowrie species is in fact Primovula cavanaghi. It is hard to tell without seeing the entire shell however from I can see is that the shell is all pink with no markings. This species is generally found on Dendronephthya sodt corals and I have seen it previously in Port Stephens, Sydney and Jervis Bay. See: http://www.daveharasti.com/nelsonbay/seasl...wries/index.htm and http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/...es%20&%20Shells The ID of the cowries on this page were confirmed by Dr Richard Willan, Curator of Molluscs and the NT Musuem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Thanks Dave, That looks like the same beast ... my other shots show no pattern on the shell (as with P. Culmen). It was from the Dendronephthya beds at The Pipeline ... you've probably seen the same one cheers Leander Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave H 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Did you happen to photograph any seahorses at the pipeline??? If so can you check your images and see if any of them have coloured elastomer tags in them - they will be red dots! It's one of my main surveys spots and I've tagged about 200 animals there so far... The cowries are actually quite common in the Dendronephthya soft corals, we refer to them as the 'cauliflowers'. So far I've recorded 3 different cowry species living in them at the pipe. cheers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted July 10, 2006 I photographed about 9 seahorses. I didn't notice red dots - where are the tags on the animal? wow ... 200 is a lot! I see all the cowries on your site (now) ... and I thought they were something unique ... well they are still a cool find for me I was disappointed not to find an angler fish though from three dives at the pipeline Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave H 0 Posted July 10, 2006 The tags are small little plastic injections and look like a paint dot. They are fluroscent under a blue torch LED which makes them very easy to see with the blue light. Each animal is given 3 tags in certain 'zones' on their body. Tags are on either side of the animal or on some they are on both sides. There are 220 combinations per colour. The animals below has two tags in the mid section, the other tag is either on the tail or the other side. Local divers from Port Stephens have been assisting me by photographing both sides of any animal that they see. They record the habitat and depth details and I'm then able to look at population sizes (through mark-recapture resightings) and assess habitat preferences. a good fun and interesting project really! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
