Menkei Cerith Shell, Cerithium menkei

Menkei Cerith Shell, Cerithium menkei. Shell collected off the beach in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2006. Size: 1.4 cm (0.6 inches) x 0.6 cm (0.2 inches). Identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

The Menkei Cerith, Cerithium menkei (Carpenter, 1857), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Cerithiidae Family of Ceriths. The shell has a stout structure but very small in size and consist of seven to eight whorls. The exterior may be mostly smooth or it may be marked with spiral and length-wise lines, yielding a crisscross pattern of nodes over the surface. The aperture or columella is medium in size. The exterior color ranges from light to dark gray, with varying amounts of brown and/or white blotching; the interior may be white, bluish, or dark brown; the outer lip often has a white rim; and, the bottom of the inside edge, of the aperture is also white. Menkei Cerith Shells reach a maximum of 1.6 cm (0.6 inches) in length and 0.7 cm (0.3 inches) in height.

Menkei Ceriths are found attached to or under rocks in the intertidal zone to depths up to 5 m (15 feet). They range from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, to Peru and they are found in the Sea of Cortez, from Mulege to the Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur.