Jenner’s False Cowry Shell, Jenneria pustulata

Jenner’s False Cowry Shell, Jenneria pustulata.Shell collected off the beach in the greater Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, April 2019. Size: 2.0 cm (0.8 inches) x 1.4 cm (0.6 inches).

Jenner’s False Cowry, Jenneria pustulata, Mollusk and Shell. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuatanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2019. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuatanejo.

Jenner’s False Cowry, Jenneria pustulata, Mollusk and Shell. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuatanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2019. Photographs and identification courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuatanejo.

Jenner’s False Cowry, Jenneria pustulata (Lightfoot, 1786), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Ovulidae Family of False Cowries. They are also known as the Pustulated Cowry and in Mexico as ninguno conocido. The shell is unusual shape being similar to the cowries but it’s base is crossed with ridges or “transverse teeth”. Jenner’s False Cowry lacks the shiny surface of other cowries, and instead, the dorsal surface is covered with orange pustules that are round, wart like bumps. The background of the shell is blue-gray in color. Jenner’s False Cowry reach a maximum of 2.7 cm (1.1 inches) in length and 1.9 cm (0.7 inches) in height.

Jenner’s False Cowry resides among hard corals and with holes in the reef during daylight hours. They are found from the intertidal zone to depths up to 40 m (130 feet). They emerge at night to feed on coral polyps. They are found throughout the Sea of Cortez and south to Peru.

A synonym is Cyprea pustulata.