Monetaria moneta, common name the money cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.WoRMS : Monetaria moneta; accessed : October 20, 2010
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.
Description and characteristics It is a quite small cowry, up to , irregular and flattened, with very calloused edges and roughly subhexagonal. The colour is pale (from white to dirty beige), but the dorsum seems transparent, often greenish grey with yellowish margins, with sometimes darker transverse stripes and a delicate yellow ring. The opening is wide and white, with pronounced denticules. The mantle of the live animal is mottled with black and off-white.
The shell of Monetaria moneta varies widely in shape and colour, with some of these varieties having been described as full species. As a result, this species has numerous taxonomic synonyms.
Distribution
This is a very common species which is found widely in Indo-Pacific tropical waters. It is present in numerous regions, including East and South Africa, Madagascar, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, Maldives, eastern Polynesia, Galapagos, Clipperton and Cocos islands off Central America, southern Japan, Midway and Hawaii, and northern New South Wales and Lord Howe Island.
Habitat This cowrie lives in intertidal rocky areas and shallow tide pools among sea weed, coral remains, and empty bivalve shells. It can be found on and under rocks in shallow water and on exposed reefs at low tide. It feeds on algae and marine vegetation growing on loose rocks and pieces of dead coral.
Subspecies and forms Subspecies: Monetaria moneta icterina (Lamarck, 1810) Monetaria moneta monetserpentis Lorenz, Chiapponi & Mont, 2012 Monetaria moneta tuberculosa (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
Monetaria moneta barthelemyi (f) Bernardi, M., 1861
Forms: Monetaria moneta form erosaformisGastropods.com : Monetaria moneta erosaformis; assessed : October 20, 2010 Monetaria moneta form harrisi Iredale, T., 1939Gastropods.com : Monetaria moneta harrisi; accessed : October 20, 2010 Monetaria moneta form icterina Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de, 1810gastropods.com : Monetaria moneta icterina; accessed : October 20, 2010 Monetaria moneta form rhomboides Schilder, F.A. & M. Schilder, 1933Gastropods.com : Monetaria moneta rhomboides; accessed : October 20, 2010 Monetaria moneta form tuberculosa Quoy, J.R.C. & J.P. Gaimard, 1834Gastropods.com : Monetaria moneta tuberculosa; accessed : October 20, 2010
Human uses The shell is used in jewellery and in other decorative items such as baskets and wall hangings.
As money
Shells of this cowrie were commonly used as a medium of exchangePoutiers, J. M. (1998). Gastropods in: FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes: The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 1. Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods. Rome, FAO, 1998. page 503. in many areas of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific islands until the late 19th century.
The Maldives provided the main source of cowrie shells, throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast. Huge amounts of Maldivian cowries were introduced into Africa by slave traders.Hogendorn, Jan and Johnson Marion: The Shell Money of the Slave Trade. African Studies Series 49, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986. It was also traded to Native Americans by European settlers.
For divination The shell is used in divination rituals in some African religions. In the State of Kerala, in India, special money cowrie shells (which are known in Malayalam as ) are used for divination as a practice of Hindu astrology known as prasnam. During Prasnam, the astrologer draws shells of Monetaria moneta while reciting mantras and prayers. The number of cowries drawn is tied to a planet, and its astrological position provides an answer to a given question or the basis to a prediction.Tarabout, Gilles. "Religious Uncertainty, Astrology and the Courts in South India 1." Of Doubt and Proof. Routledge, 2016. 59-76. pp. 5 - 10.
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.
External links
cypraea moneta More habitat info Shell money Astamangala Divya Prasna an article about divination in Kerala using coweries.