Golden Mexican Dove Shell, Columbella aureomexicana

Golden Mexican Dove Shell, Columbella aureomexicana.  Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Size: 1.6 cm (0.6 inches) x 0.8 cm (0.3 inches) x 0.8 cm (0.3 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato.

Golden Mexican Dove Shell, Columbella aureomexicana.  Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Size: 1.9 cm (0.7 inches) x 1.2 cm (0.5 inches) x 0.7 cm (0.3 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato. Note: the prominent teeth and rectangular callus along the inner edge of the shell.

Phylogeny: The Golden Mexican Dove, Columbella aureomexicana (F.B . Howard, 1963), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Columbellidae Family of Dove Shells. The genus Collumbella is one of seventy-seven genera in this family, and there are eighteen species in this genus.

Description: The Golden Mexican Dove Shell is medium sized and have a wide spindle-like shape (fusiform).  They consist of 5 or 6 whorls, have a moderately high spire, and a long aperture. The exterior is smooth or sculpted with fine spiral lines. The inner lip of the aperture has a rectangular area of callus posteriorly and  numerous fine, even, denticulations anteriorly, which are very evident in the photographed shell. The exterior of the shell is golden brown to chestnut brown in color, with irregular white specks, spots, or blotches. The outer lip of the aperture is gold to orangish brown in color. Dove Shells reach a maximum length of 2.1 cm (.8 inches). This species resembles the Burnt Dove Shell, Columbella fuscata but is usually a little larger, darker and, most distinctly, has a gold or orange outer lip.

Habitat and Distribution: The Golden Mexican Dove Shell is found on, or under, rocks in sand within the intertidal zone to depths up to 40 m (131 feet). They are a subtropical to tropical Eastern Pacific species that is endemic to Mexican waters ranging from. This species is endemic to Mexico, where it  is found from Cedros Island, Baja California south to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. They are found throughout the Sea of Cortez.

Ecology and Behavior:  The Golden Mexican Dove Shell Dove are herbivorous  grazers that feed on algae.  They are preyed upon by crabs, fish, predatory mollusks and shorebirds. These shells are gonochoric and reproduce sexually with internal fertilization. There is no mention in the available literature of them engaging in any types of parasitic, commensal, or symbiotic relationships. 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:  Pyrene aureola and Pyrene aureomexicana