Elegant Goblet Shell, Pusio elegans

Elegant Goblet Shell, Pusio elegans. Shell collected off the beach at Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, December 2022. Size: 4.2 cm (1.7 inches) x 2.3 cm (0.9 inches). Photograph and Identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur.

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).

Elegant Goblet Shell, Pusio elegans. Shell collected off the beach at San Juanico, Baja California Sur, December 2022. Size: 5.1 cm (2.0 inches) x 2.7 cm (1.1 inches). Photograph and Identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur.

Phylogeny: The Elegant Goblet Shell, Pusio elegans (J.E. Grey, 1833), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Pisaniidae Family of False Triton Shells. The genus Pusio is one of twenty genera in this family, and there are only two species in this genus.

Description: Elegant Goblet Shells are sturdy with five to seven whorls and a large body whorl. The exterior is 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. 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.

Habitat and Distribution: Elegant Goblets are found attached to, and under, rocks and dead coral. They live in the intertidal zone, and to depths up to 8 m (25 feet). They are a subtropical to tropical Eastern Pacific species that are found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from north of Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, along the central and northwest coasts of the Baja Peninsula.

Ecology and Behavior: Elegant Goblets are a poorly studied and understood species. There is very limited documentation of their diet, predation, reproduction or ecosystem interactions. Other species in the Pisaniidae Family are predators that feed primarily on mollusks, barnacles, and worms. They are gonochoric and reproduce sexually. Their engagement in any type of commensal, parasitic, or symbiotic relationship has not been formally documented. From a conservation perspective they have not been formally evaluated. However, they are fairly common with a relatively wide distribution and should be consider to be of Least Concern.

Synonyms: Buccinum insignis, Cantharus elegans, Pisania aequilirata, and Triton (Pusio) elegans.