Jenneria pustulata | |
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A shell of Jenneria pustulata | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Littorinimorpha |
Family: | Ovulidae |
Genus: | Jenneria |
Species: | J. pustulata |
Binomial name | |
Jenneria pustulata (Lightfoot, 1786) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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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 Ovulidae, one of the families of cowry allies. [1]
The shells of this common species reach on average 15–27 millimetres (0.59–1.06 in) 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.
This species occurs in California, the Gulf of California in Western Mexico, Nicaragua, West Panama, Ecuador, Peru Costa Rica 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), and rest during the day.
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. [2] 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.
Cypraeidae, commonly named the cowries, is a taxonomic family of small to large sea snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies.
The flamingo tongue snail is a species of small but brightly colored sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Mauritia arabica, common name the Arabian cowry, is a species of cowry, a sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Pediculariinae is a subfamily of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Ovulidae and the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies. As of 2009, it comprises 48 described species of which 20 are regarded as valid by most scientists.
Barycypraea teulerei, common name Teulere's cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Chelycypraea testudinaria, common name the tortoise cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Erronea cylindrica is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Bistolida erythraeensis, the Red Sea cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Macrocypraea zebra, common name the measled cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Mauritia depressa, common name the "depressed cowry" or the "honey cowry", is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Talparia talpa, common name the mole cowry or chocolate banded cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Calpurnus verrucosus, the Umbilical Egg Shell or Warty/Little Egg Cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the cowries.
Ovula ovum, common name the common egg cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Jenneria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Ovulidae, one of the families of cowry allies.
Monoplex pilearis, common name the hairy triton, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cymatiidae.
Lyncina schilderorum, common names the sandy cowry or Schilder's cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. This species was named in honor of Franz and Maria Schilder, two German cowry biologists.
Lyncina sulcidentata, common name the square-toothed cowry or groove-toothed cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
Pocillopora inflata is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It was first described by Peter William Glynn in 1999. It is found growing on coral reefs in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean but is nowhere abundant.
Pocillopora verrucosa, commonly known as cauliflower coral, rasp coral, or knob-horned coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
A corallivore is an animal that feeds on coral. Corallivores are an important group of reef organism because they can influence coral abundance, distribution, and community structure. Corallivores feed on coral using a variety of unique adaptations and strategies. Known corallivores include certain mollusks, annelids, fish, crustaceans, flatworms and echinoderms. The first recorded evidence of corallivory was presented by Charles Darwin in 1842 during his voyage on HMS Beagle in which he found coral in the stomach of two Scarus parrotfish.