Home > Invertebrates > Shells > Cowries > Ovatipsa chinensis

Updated 4/28/2026

Family Cypraeidae

INDO-WEST PACIFIC / HAWAII

Ovatipsa chinensis



Wawaloli, Hawaii, 40 feet


Kauai, Hawaii

Oahu, Hawaii

 


South Oahu, 45 mm
(David Lum collection)

Zanzibar, East Africa
   
   

CHINESE COWRY

Rare in Hawaii on red sponge under slabs at any depth, more common elsewhere.  Cream with orange teeth, purple dots and green reticulated dorsum.  Specimens in Hawaii are much wider than average.  Attains 2 inches, 50 mm.  South Africa to Japan, Hawaii, and Rapa Nui.  Formerly known as Cypraea chinensis.