Cypraeoidea

Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a superfamily of sea snails, marine gastropods included in the order Littorinimorpha. This superfamily had been called Cypraeacea and was named by Rafinesque in 1815.

==Shell description== This superfamily of sea snails have adult shells which do not look like typical gastropod shells because the spire of the shell is not visible in adults, instead the shells are: often quite rounded in shape, varying from globular to elongate, and with a long, very narrow, aperture which is sometimes toothed. The snails in these families have no operculum. thumb|Erronea onyx S2-21 37mm 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.