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 Shell, Macrocypraea cervinetta. 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 Shell, Macrocypraea cervinetta. 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.
Note: You can find the Little Deer Cowry Mollusk presented in our sister website as the Little Deer Cowry Mollusk, Macrocypraea cervinetta.
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. They are also known as the Panamic Deer Cowry Shell and in Mexico as Ciprea Ciervo and Cuarí Cervatillo. There are two currently recognized subspecies for this species- Macrocypraea cervinetta californica (primarily in Gulf of California) and Macrocypraea cervinetta cervinetta (central and southern Mexico to Peru). The Little Deer Cowry Shell is virtually identical to the Measled Cowry Shell, 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. This species is also known as the Panamic Deer Cowry Shell and in Mexico as Ciprea Ciervo and Cuarí Cervatillo. The common name Little Deer Cowry refers to the spotted shell’s resemblance to a spotted fawn
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 subtropical to tropical Eastern Pacific species. They are found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that the are absent from the west coast of the Baja Peninsula.
Ecology and Behavior: Little Deer Cowries are omnivorous grazers that feed primarily on algae and small encrusting invertebrates. There is little documentation of predation of Little Deer Cowries. It is thought that they a prey for octopuses and fishes. They as most vulnerable as juveniles, when they are also prey for crabs. Little Deer Cowries are gonochoric (male or female for life) and reproduce sexually, with internal fertilization. The female lays her eggs as gelatinous capsules attached to hard substrate. The female broods the egg mass by enveloping it with her foot for protection. The embryos hatch as free-swimming planktonic veliger larvae. After two weeks to several months, depending on environment conditions, the larvae metamorphose into benthic juveniles. 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 considered to be of Least Concern.
Synonyms : Cypraea cervinnetta.