Little Deer Cowry Shell, Macrocypraea cervinetta
Little Deer Cowry Shell, Macrocypraea cervinetta, Juvenile. Shell collected off the beach in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2021. Size: 3.7 cm (1.5 inches) x 1.4 cm (0.6 inches).
Little Deer Cowry, Macrocypraea cervinetta, Adult. Shell collected off the beach at Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, December 2022. Size: 9.1 cm (3.6 inches) x 4.6 cm (1.8 inches) x 3.4 cm (1.3 inches). Collection, photograph and Identifications courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur.
Little Deer Cowry, Macrocypraea cervinetta, Adult. Size: 9.2 cm (3.6 inches) x 4.6 cm (1.8 inches) x 3.4 cm (1.3 inches). Shell collected off the beach in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, April 2017. Collection, photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
Little Deer Cowry, Macrocypraea cervinetta, Adult. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2020. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
Little Deer Cowry, Macrocypraea cervinetta. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2020. Photographs and identifications courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo. This should be considered a tentative identification.
Phylogeny: The Little Deer Cowry, Macrocypraea cervinetta (Kiener, 1843), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Cypraeidae Family of Cowrie Shells. The genus Macrocypraea is one of fifty-five genera in this family, and there are four species in this genus. This species is also known as the Panamic Deer Cowry. They are known in Mexico as Ciprea Ciervo and Cuarí Cervatillo. There are two currently recognized subspecies for this species- Macrocypraea cervinetta californica and Macrocypraea cervinetta cervinetta. The Little Deer Cowry is virtually identical to the Measled Cowry, Macrocypraea zebra (Linnaeus, 1758) that is a resident of the Atlantic Ocean. It is thought that the two are common ancestors appearing before the country of Panama surfaced separating the two oceans approximately three million years ago.
Description: The Little Deer Cowry shell has an elongated egg-shape, with a strongly toothed aperture. The dorsal surface may be yellowish-brown, brown, or dark mahogany, and covered with round white spots. The spots may transition into rings along the sides. Most shells have three or four purplish brown bands across the dorsal surface, and a lighter colored longitudinal band. Ventrally, they are violet-brown in color. The juveniles lack spotting on the shell and teeth along the aperture. The Little Deer Cowry shell is the largest cowry in the area reaching a maximum of 11.0 cm (4.3 inches) in length and 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) in height.
Habitat and Distribution: Little Deer Cowries are found under rocks, within rock crevices, and on rubble in the intertidal zone and to depths up to 24 m (80 feet). They are a tropical Eastern Pacific species that are found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean along the west coast of the mainland south to Guatemala. They are found in the southern portions of the Sea of Cortez from LaPaz to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur along the east coast of the Baja and from Guaymas south to Mazatlán along the west coast of the mainland. They have not been documented along the west coast of the Baja Peninsula.
Ecology and Behavior: Little Deer Cowries are omnivorous grazers that feed primarily on algae and small benthic invertebrates. They are gonochoric and reproduce sexually, through broadcast spawning, with external 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 considered to be of Least Concern.
Synonyms : Cypraea cervinnetta.