- Source: Palmadusta clandestina
Palmadusta clandestina is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Subspecies
Palmadusta clandestina candida (Pease, 1865)
Palmadusta clandestina clandestina (Linnaeus, 1767)
Palmadusta clandestina passerina Melvill, 1888
Description
Palmadusta clandestina has the flat-sided egg shape typical of cowries, and is around 26 mm long. It is one of several Cypraeoidea known to use acid for defence, in this case secreting sulphuric acid when disturbed.
Distribution
This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania
References
Verdcourt, B. (1954). The cowries of the East African Coast (Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba). Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 22(4) 96: 129–144, 17 pls
Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice
