Dragon's Head Cowry

Monetaria caputdraconis

• Group: Other
• Typical depth: 0–30 m
• Max size: 3.5 cm

This cowrie lives only around Easter Island, hiding under rocks and in crevices along the shore right at the tide line and in tide pools. It grows to about 4 centimetres, and like all cowries its glossy shell stays polished because the animal wraps soft mantle flaps right over it.

Taxonomy: Animalia › Mollusca › Gastropoda › Littorinimorpha › Cypraeidae › Monetaria

Species data via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), AphiaID 570813.