Pustularia (gastropod) explained

Pustularia is a small genus of medium-sized sea snails or cowries, marine gastropod molluscs in the subfamily Pustulariinae of the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.^[1]

Distribution

These cowries are found along the coast of East Africa, Australia, Hawaii, the Philippines, the Red Sea and in the Indo-Pacific region in general.

Species

Species within the genus Pustularia include:

• Pustularia bistrinotata Schilder & Schilder, 1937
• Pustularia chiapponii Lorenz, 1999
• Pustularia cicercula (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Pustularia globulus (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Pustularia keelingensis Schilder, F.A. & M. Schilder, 1940
• Pustularia jandeprezi Poppe & Martin, 1997 (synonym : Pustularia jandeprezi)
• † Pustularia korneli Fehse & Vicián, 2021
• † Pustularia lodanensis (F. A. Schilder, 1937)
• Pustularia marerubra Lorenz, 2009
• Pustularia margarita (Dillwyn, 1817) : Pearl cowry
  • Pustularia margarita africana Lorenz, F. Jr. & A. Hubert, 1993
  • Pustularia margarita tuamotensis Lorenz, F. Jr. & A. Hubert, 1993
• Pustularia mauiensis (Burgess, 1967)^[2] Maui chick-pea cowry (endemic to Hawaii)

Species brought into synonymy:

• Pustularia childreni (Gray, 1825): synonym of Ipsa childreni (Gray, 1825)
• Pustularia mariae Schilder, 1927 accepted as Annepona mariae (Schilder, 1927) (original combination)
• Pustularia maricola C. N. Cate, 1976 accepted as Nesiocypraea lisetae maricola (C. N. Cate, 1976) (original combination)
• † Pustularia pisiformis F. A. Schilder, 1932 accepted as † Ficadusta pisiformis (F. A. Schilder, 1932) (original combination)
• † Pustularia rugifera Schilder, 1927 accepted as † Maestratia rugifera (Schilder, 1927) (original combination)
• Pustularia tricornis (Jousseaume, 1874) accepted as Pustularia cicercula tricornis (Jousseaume, 1874)
• Pustularia tuamotensis Lorenz & Huber, 1993: synonym of Pustularia margarita var. tuamotensis Lorenz & Huber, 1993 accepted as Pustularia margarita (Dillwyn, 1817)
• Pustularia wattsi Lorenz, 2000 accepted as Pustularia mauiensis wattsi Lorenz, 2000

References

• Lorenz F. (2014). Monograph of the genus Pustularia (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae). Harxheim: ConchBooks. 130 pp
• Lorenz, F. (2017). Cowries. A guide to the gastropod family Cypraeidae. Volume 1, Biology and systematics. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 644 pp.

External links

• Swainson, W. (1840). A treatise on malacology or shells and shell-fish. London, Longman. viii + 419 pp
• E.L. Heiman. Reflections upon Pustularia mauiensis and related taxa . Triton. 2008. 17. 29–31.
• E.L. Heiman. Pustularia chiapponii seems to be a form of P. bistrinotata . Triton. 2008. 17. 33–35.
• Ladd, H.S. (1977). Cenozoic fossil mollusks from western Pacific islands; Gastropods (Eratoidae through Harpidae). U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 533: i–iv, 1–84, pls 1–23
• OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan database
• ZipcodeZoo

Notes and References

1. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Pustularia Swainson, 1840. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205618 on 2022-03-11
2. Burgess . C. M. . A new Hawaiian Cypraea . Hawaiian Shell News . 1967 . 15 . 10 . 1, 2.