Gates’ Goblet Shell, Solenosteira gatesi

Gates’ Goblet Shell, Solenesteira gatesi. Shell courtesy of the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, November 2016. Size: 3.4 cm (1.3 inches) x 2.3 cm (0.9 inches).

Gates’ Goblet, Solenesteira gatesi (Berry, 1963), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Pisaniidae Family of False Tritons that is known in Mexico as caracolillo de Gates. The shells are sturdy with a diamond-shaped profile and consists of five or six whorls. They have a pointed apex, a moderately high spire, a wide shoulder, a tapering body whorl and there are about ten lengthwise ribs and numerous, fine spiral ridges and a large oval aperture that has a crenulated (notched with small ridges) outer lip. Unlike most Whelks, the shoulder is marked by pointed knobs. The exterior of the shells is white, white with brown toward the spire, or all brown; the interior is white to bluish white. Gates’ Goblet Shells reach a maximum of 6.5 cm (2.6 inches) in length and 4.4 cm (1.7 inches).

Gates’ Goblets are found in muddy sand at depths between 20 m (65 feet) and 150 m (500 feet). They are found from Gonzaga Bay, Baja California, in the Sea of Cortez, south to Peru. They have not been documented from the West Coast of Baja.