Cowrie

Cowrie or cowry (pl. cowries) is the <a href="/facts/Common_name/3KNNezEU">common name</a> for a group of small to large <a href="/facts/Sea_snail/p6GReFBF">sea snails</a> in the family <a href="/facts/Cypraeidae/poM4yoKQ">Cypraeidae</a>.
Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used worldwide as <a href="/facts/Shell_money/cNmuTTJd">shell money</a>. It is most abundant in the <a href="/facts/Indian_Ocean/Kv0crwKG">Indian Ocean</a>, and was collected in the <a href="/facts/Maldive_Islands/sC2HeXby">Maldive Islands</a>, in <a href="/facts/Sri_Lanka/VtTBmysE">Sri Lanka</a>, along the Indian <a href="/facts/Malabar_coast/H5dBfKRH">Malabar coast</a>, in <a href="/facts/Borneo/1aIGfyvV">Borneo</a> and on other East Indian islands, in <a href="/facts/Maluku_Islands/Bwucm34R">Maluku</a> in the Pacific, and in various parts of the <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">African</a> coast from <a href="/facts/Ras_Hafun/Cyqvk67f">Ras Hafun</a>, in <a href="/facts/Somalia/3wQYwIdS">Somalia</a>, to <a href="/facts/Mozambique/mMWQ80JT">Mozambique</a>. Cowrie shell money was important in the trade networks of <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a>, <a href="/facts/South_Asia/7gTqe3hY">South Asia</a>, and <a href="/facts/East_Asia/D8yGVCQX">East Asia</a>.
In the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> and <a href="/facts/Mexico/IT5bwhdh">Mexico</a>, cowrie species inhabit the waters off <a href="/facts/Central_California/9xm4hSUa">Central California</a> to <a href="/facts/Baja_California/vJY3AFwn">Baja California</a> (the <a href="/facts/Chestnut_cowrie/dPQMypIq">chestnut cowrie</a> is the only cowrie species native to the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">eastern Pacific Ocean</a> off the coast of the United States; further south, off the coast of Mexico, <a href="/facts/Central_America/CXKgTuxC">Central America</a> and <a href="/facts/Peru/dBt7XrYD">Peru</a>, <a href="/facts/Macrocypraea_cervinetta/Df2Jzn7m">Little Deer Cowrie</a> habitat can be found; and further into the Pacific from Central America, the Pacific habitat range of <a href="/facts/Monetaria_moneta/9E39WltE">Money Cowrie</a> can be reached ) as well as the waters south of the <a href="/facts/Southeastern_United_States/jlyYnNvo">Southeastern United States</a>.
Some species in the family <a href="/facts/Ovulidae/Yuv9DupT">Ovulidae</a> are also often referred to as cowries. In the <a href="/facts/British_Isles/4fBquvMU">British Isles</a> the local <a href="/facts/Trivia_(gastropod)/vYQ97nRy">Trivia</a> species (family Triviidae, species <a href="/facts/Trivia_monacha/2YYm0HPT">Trivia monacha</a> and <a href="/facts/Trivia_arctica/YQEuy0jJ">Trivia arctica</a>) are sometimes called cowries. The Ovulidae and the Triviidae are other <a href="/facts/Family_(biology)/qTrn6E8E">families</a> within <a href="/facts/Cypraeoidea/ezQgxl12">Cypraeoidea</a>, the superfamily of cowries and their close relatives.

Cowrie open-in-new

Cowrie