| Jenneria pustulata | |
|---|---|
| A shell of Jenneria pustulata, anterior end towards the right | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Cypraeoidea |
| Family: | Pediculariidae |
| Subfamily: | Cypraediinae |
| Genus: | Jenneria |
| Species: | J. pustulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Jenneria pustulata (Lightfoot, 1786) |
|
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Jenneria pustulata var. bimaculata Coen, 1949 |
|
Jenneria pustulata, common name the Jenner's cowry or pustulated cowry, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pediculariidae, one of the families of cowry allies.[1]
Contents |
The shells of this common species reach on average 15–27 millimetres (0.59–1.1 in)inlength. The shape is usual 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.
This species occurs in California, the Sea of Cortez, West Mexico, Nicaragua, West Panama, Ecuador, and the Galapagos.
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 (mainly Pocillopora species in the order Scleractinia).