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Bistolida kieneri
	Bistolida kieneri depriesteri from the Philippines
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cypraeidae
Genus:	Bistolida
Species:	B. kieneri
Binomial name
	Bistolida kieneri; (Hidalgo, 1906)
Synonyms
	Blasicrura kieneri (Hidalgo, 1906); Cypraea kieneri Hidalgo, 1906;

Bistolida kieneri, common name : Kiener's cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.^[1]

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognized :

Bistolida kieneri depriesteri Schilder, 1933
Bistolida kieneri kieneri (Hidalgo, 1906) (synonym : Erronea reductesignata Schilder, 1924)
Bistolida kieneri schneideri Schilder & Schilder, 1938

Description

The shells of these common cowries reach on average 12–15 millimetres (0.47–0.59 in) of length, with a minimum size of 8 millimetres (0.31 in) and a maximum size of 24 millimetres (0.94 in). The basic color of these oval-shaped smooth and shiny shells is whitish, with irregular greenish or blueish blotches or trasversal bands and brown small brown spots on the edges of both sides. Also the extremities show two larger brown blotches. The base is mainly whitish, with a narrow sinuous aperture with several short teeth. In the living cowries the mantle is very thin and transparent, with short papillae and external antennae.

Distribution

This species and its subspecies can be found in East Africa, in the Indian Ocean and in the western Pacific Ocean, in the seas along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Samoa.

Habitat

Living cowries can be encountered in tropical shallow water, usually hidden during the day under rocks or corals. As a matter of fact they fear the light and only at dawn or dusk they start feeding on algae or coral polyps.

References

^ ^a ^b Bistolida kieneri (Hidalgo, 1906). WoRMS (2009). Bistolida kieneri (Hidalgo, 1906). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=529737 on 9 October 2010 .