Monetaria moneta

Money cowrie
Live animal, with mantle visible
Five views of a shell of Monetaria moneta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Cypraeidae
Genus: Monetaria
Species:
M. moneta
Binomial name
Monetaria moneta
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Cypraea annulifera (Coen, 1949)
  • Cypraea barthelemyi Bernardi, 1861
  • Cypraea circumvallata (M. Schilder & F. A. Schilder, 1933) (Synonym)
  • Cypraea gibbosa Schröter, 1804
  • Cypraea mercatorium (Rochebrunne, 1884)
  • Cypraea moneta Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym)
  • Cypraea monetacongo Gmelin, J.F., 1791
  • Cypraea numisma Röding, P.F., 1798
  • Cypraea gibbosa Schröter, J.S., 1804
  • Cypraea marginata Kiesenwetter, 1872
  • Erosaria moneta (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Erosaria monetoides Iredale, T., 1939
  • Monetaria britannica Schilder, F.A., 1927
  • Monetaria bulgarica Kojumdgieva, E., 1960
  • Monetaria chionella Sulliotti, G.R., 1924
  • Monetaria ethnographica Rochebrune, A.-T. de, 1884
  • Monetaria ethnographica circumvallata Schilder, F.A. & M. Schilder, 1933
  • Monetaria etolu Steadman & Cotton, 1943
  • Monetaria harrisi Iredale, 1939
  • Monetaria icterina (Lamarck, 1810)
  • Monetaria isomeres Iredale, T., 1939
  • Monetaria mercatorium Rochebrune, A.-T. de, 1884
  • Monetaria pleuronectes Rochebrune, A.-T. de, 1884
  • Monetaria plumaria Rochebrune, 1884
  • Monetaria pseudomoneta C.-H. Hu, 1992
  • Monetaria rhomboides Schilder & Schilder, 1933
  • Monetaria vestimenti Rochebrune, A.-T. de, 1884
  • Monetaria moneta subalata (f) Schilder, F.A. & M. Schilder, 1933
  • Monetaria moneta endua Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1943
  • Monetaria moneta erua Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1943
  • Monetaria moneta etolu Steadman, W.R. & B.C. Cotton, 1943

Monetaria moneta, common name the money cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.[1]

This species is called "money cowrie" because the shells were historically widely used in many Pacific and Indian Ocean countries as shell money before coinage was in common usage.

  1. ^ a b WoRMS : Monetaria moneta; accessed : October 20, 2010
  2. ^ "Monetaria moneta". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 20 October 2010.