Propustularia surinamensis
A cowry of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
Propustularia surinamensis, called the Surinam cowry or Suriname cowrie, is a marine gastropod mollusk in the cowry family Cypraeidae. Its common name and scientific name both point to Suriname, a country on the northern coast of South America that was once the Dutch colony of Surinam.
This sea snail is found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, along the Gulf and Caribbean coasts of North, Central, and South America. It has occasionally been dredged at depths of 500 feet off the west coast of Barbados.
The largest recorded shell length is 48 mm. The shallowest depth where it has been found is 7 meters, and the deepest is 780 meters.
Quick Facts
- Taxon
- Propustularia surinamensis
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
This species is native to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, including the Gulf and Caribbean coasts of North, Central, and South America. It has occasionally been dredged at 500 ft depths off the west coast of Barbados. The maximum recorded shell length is 48 mm. The minimum recorded depth is 7 m, and the maximum recorded depth is 780 m.
Reader's Guide
Propustularia surinamensis is a cowry species documented in the scientific literature since at least the late 19th century, with a description by Crosse in 1878. Its distribution spans the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, from the coasts of North, Central, and South America, with occasional records from deeper waters off Barbados. The species has been included in systematic studies of cowries, such as those by Coomans (1963) and Meyer (2003), and appears in comprehensive works on cowries of the world by Burgess (1985) and Lorenz & Hubert (2000). Its presence in the Gulf of Mexico was further cataloged in a 2009 survey of Gulf gastropods. The species' depth range, from 7 m to 780 m, indicates a broad bathymetric tolerance. The shell length of up to 48 mm places it among the medium-sized cowries. The specific epithet and common name honor Suriname, reflecting the region where the species was first recognized.
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