Cypraeoidea

Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a taxonomic superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the suborder Hypsogastropoda.

This superfamily contains the families Cypraeidae and Ovulidae.

Shell description

The shells of almost every species in this superfamily are very smooth and shiny, and this is because in the living animal, the shell is nearly always fully covered with the mantle.

Usually no spire is visible in the fully adult shell, and there is a long, very narrow, aperture.

The snails in these families have no operculum.