Jenneria Pustulata
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Jenneria pustulata'', common name the Jenner's cowry or pustulated cowry, is a
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of small
sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...
, a marine
gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000  extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
in the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Ovulidae Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family (biology), family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the co ...
, one of the families of cowry allies.


Description

The shells of this common species reach on average in length. The shape is usually spindle-like or oval. The dorsum surface is decorated with numerous brilliant orange-red bumps or pustules (hence the Latin name ''pustulata'') surrounded by a dark ring. The basic color of the dorsal surface is grey, beige or brown. The fine labial teeth are prominent, their color is white or pale brown, and they cross the entire base, with dark brown spaces in between. In the living animals the mantle is greyish, with long tree-shaped sensorial papillae.


Distribution

This species occurs in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, the
Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...
in Western
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, West
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
, Peru
Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
and the Galapagos.


Habitat

These sea snails live in tropical to temperate waters at low tide to subtidal levels, and are usually found on coral reef or rocks. They feed by night on
stony corals Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...
(mainly ''
Pocillopora ''Pocillopora'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Pocilloporidae occurring in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.Veron, J.E.N. (2000) Corals of the World. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townville, Australia. They are commonly called ...
'' species in the order
Scleractinia Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...
), and rest during the day.


Importance

This snail has been demonstrated to have significant effects on coral mortality on some Pacific reefs. High predation by this corallivore gastropod was observed in July 2011 at a reef in the northern Gulf of California. ''Porites panamensis'' corals were infested by 15 to 40 sea snails per colony. This sea snail is nocturnally active and hides during the day (Glynn, 1985), but during the immersions, individuals were always on the top of the coral colonies, moving and feeding at midday, as Paz-García and colleagues found. These observations indicates a change in the daily pattern of movement and feeding of this snail in the reef. Despite high density of ''J. pustulata'' on the reef, no soft corals were observed to have been damaged by the sea snail, only stony corals were infested.


References

* Lorenz F. & Fehse D. (2009). The Living Ovulidae - A manual of the families of Allied Cowries: Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. Conchbooks, Hackenheim, Germany


External links


Biolib
* Pediculariinae Gastropods described in 1786 {{Pediculariinae-stub