Their shells are egg-shaped and smooth. The outer and inner lips are covered in small, sharp ribs. They are about 2 cm long.
Benthic. Marine. Known from seamounts and knolls. Eats algae and corals.
When a predator first touches the gastropod, it senses something soft, plump, and bright, but on the second touch, the gastropod withdraws the mantle and the predator touches something hard, shiny and brown. The confused predator thinks the gastropod has escaped and goes on looking for it elsewhere.
Sometimes used as jewelry or as currency, e.g. in West Africa, India, or China.
The cowries are believed to have evolved from a family of smallish, vaguely Marginella-like shells called the Collumbellinidae, specifically, from the genus Zittellia Gemellaro, 1870.
Described by Linnaeus, 1758