Elegant Goblet Shell, Pusio elegans

Elegant Goblet Shell, Pusio elegans. Shell provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, June 2015. Size: 4.3 cm (1.7 inches) x 2.3 cm (0.9 inches).

The Elegant Goblet, Pusio elegans (Griffith and Pidgeon, 1833), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Pisaniidae Family of False Tritons. The shells are sturdy with five to seven whorls with a large body whorl with the exterior being sculpted with numerous, sharp spiral ridges that extend to the aperture, with weaker folds running lengthwise producing small knobs on the shoulders. The aperture is large with teeth along the outer lip and the siphon canal is longer than most shells of this type. The exterior of the shell is yellowish-brown to dark brown in color, variegated with white. They are covered with a fibrous olive brown periostracum. Elegant Goblet Shells reach a maximum of 6.5 cm (2.6 inches) in length and 3.5 cm (1.4 inches) in height.

Elegant Goblets are found attached to and under, rocks and dead coral in the intertidal zone to depths up to 8 m (25 feet). They range from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands, and they are found throughout the Sea of Cortez.

Synonyms are Buccinum insignis, Cantharus elegans, and Pisania aequilirata.