Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Subclass Orthogastropoda > Subclass Caenogastropoda > Order Littorinimorpha > Superfamily Cypraeoidea

Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815

Rank: Family
Taxon Status: accepted

Children

Cypraeinae Rafinesque, 1815
Erosariinae Schilder, 1924
Erroneinae F. A. Schilder, 1927
Luriinae Schilder, 1932
Pustulariinae Gill, 1871
Zonariinae F. A. Schilder, 1932

Vernaculars (+) (-)

English: cowries sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

German: Kaurischnecken; Porzellanschnecken sources: Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.

Japanese: タカラガイ科

Literature

original description	Rafinesque, C.S. (1815). Analyse de la nature ou Tableau de l'univers et des corps organisés. Published by the author, Palermo. 224 pp.
basis of record	Bouchet, P. & Rocroi, J.-P. (2005). Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia. 47 (1-2): 1-397. [20 July].
additional source	Schilder, M. & Schilder, F. A. (1971). A catalogue of living and fossil cowries. A taxonomy and bibliography of Triviacea and Cypraeacea (Gastropoda Prosobranchia. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Mémoires, Deuxième Series. 85: 1-246.
additional source	Helfer, J. R. (1946). The classification of Cypraeidae. The Nautilus. 60(2): 49-53.
additional source	Burgess, C.M. (1970). The Living Cowries. AS Barnes and Co, Ltd. Cranbury, New Jersey.
additional source	Lorenz F. (2002) New worldwide cowries. Descriptions of new taxa and revisions of selected groups of living Cypraeidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Schriften zur Malakozoologie aus dem Haus der Natur-Cismar 20: 1-292, pls 1-40.
additional source	Meyer, C. (2003). Molecular systematics of cowries (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) and diversification patterns in the Tropics. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 79: 401-459.
additional source	Lorenz, F. (2017). Cowries. A guide to the gastropod family Cypraeidae. Volume 1, Biology and systematics. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 644 pp.
additional source	Burgess C.M. (1985). Cowries of the world. Cape Town: Gordon Verhoef, Seacomber Publications. xiv + 289 pp.
additional source	Moretzsohn, F. (2014). Cypraeidae: How well-inventoried is the best-known seashell family?. American Malacological Bulletin. 32(2): 278-289.
additional source	Lorenz F. & Hubert A. (2000) A guide to worldwide cowries. Edition 2. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 584 pp.

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815. Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:23022