In his study of Cypraea annulus, Lorenz (2000: 23) showed that females are
slightly larger than males near Mbudya I., Tanzania, but near Tulear the
opposite is true i.e. males turned out to be slightly larger than females.
Lorenz, F., 2000. Beitraege zur Kenntnis der Ringkauri Erosaria annulus
(Linnaeus 1758) und verwandter Arten (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cypraeidae).
Schriften zur Malakozoologie, 14: 1-95.

Best  regards,
Henk K. Mienis
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Dayle <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 5:21 PM
Subject: Re: Cypraea Question


> Andrew,
>
> There has always been the belief that the larger
> of a "mated" pair of Cypraea is the female. I do
> not have access to enough studies where sex was
> actually determined and related to shell size to
> answer "yea" or "nay".
>
> There are some articles in the Archive site of
> COWRYS.ORG which address the question. One was
> in the Hawaiian Shell News and can be seen at
> http://www.cowrys.org/NSN052CY.HTM#D
>
> A second was in Griffiths' THE COWRY and is at
> http://www.cowrys.org/archive/CWRYV1N4.HTM#P50
>
> Another article about sexual dimorphism in cowries
> with some mention of size differences is at
> http://www.cowrys.org/archive/NSN365CY.HTM
>
> I recall more but can't put my finger on just who
> wrote them or when they were printed.
>
> I hope that gets you on your way to answering your
> question.
>
>
> Bob Dayle
> http://www.cowrys.org
> _________________________________________________________________
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