Cypraea caputserpentis

Snakehead Cowry


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Caputserpentis
Description Habitat Trophic Info
Safety Comments Links to Resources

Description: The snakehead cowry, C. caputserpentis, has dark brown sides and a top with a white and brown speckled pattern.  Growing to about one and a half (1 1/2) inches long, it is one of the most common cowries of its genus.
Habitat: The snakehead cowry lives in the crevices in rocks, under rocks and among the algae in shallow waters.
Range (include invasive, native, endemic): Found in the Indo-West Pacific regions, the snakehead cowry is native to Hawai`i.
Trophic information: The snakehead cowry is nocturnal and comes out at night to graze on algae.  The snakehead cowry is eaten by cone snails and octopi.
Safety: The snakehead cowry poses no threat to humans.
Comments: Although the snakehead cowry is similar to the reticulated cowry, C. maculifera Schilder, the two can be told apart by the blurry spots on the sides of the reticulated cowry compared to the solid dark brown sides of the snakehead cowry.
Links to Resources:
 
 
 
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