Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum
Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum. Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, April 2025. Size: 3.9 cm (1.5 inches) x 3.4 cm (1.3 inches) x 1.1 cm (0.4 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato.
Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum. Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Size: 4.3 cm (1.7 inches) x 3.3 cm (1.3 inches) x 0.9 cm (0.4 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato.
Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum. Shell collected off the beach in the greater Cabo San Lucas area, Baja California Sur, January 2018. Size: 5.7 cm (2.2 inches) x 5.1 cm (2.0 inches).
Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum. Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Size: 6.0 cm (2.4 inches) x 4.9 cm (1.9 inches) x 2.1 cm (0.8 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato.
Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum. Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Size: 7.6 cm (3.0 inches) x 6.7 cm (2.6 inches) x 2.3 cm (0.9 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato.
Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum. Shell collected off the beach of Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Size: 8.3 cm (3.3 inches) x 6.9 cm (2.7 inches) x 3.2 cm (1.3 inches). Collection, photographs and identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato. Note: this shell establishes the known maximum size for this species
Phylogeny: The Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shell, Crucibulum scutellatum (Wood, 1828), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Calyptraeidae Family of Cup-and-Saucer and Slipper Limpet Shell Family. The Crucibulum Genus is one of eleven genera in the Calyptraeidae Family, and there are nineteen species in the Crucibulum Genus. They are also known as the Shield Cup-and-Saucer Shell and in Mexico as Picacho Corrugado.
Description: Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shells vary in outline of their base. They have coarse, scaly, radial ridges that extend to the shell margins as irregular scalloping. The interior cup is attached to the apex and usually attached on one side. The exterior of the shell is generally brown in color; the interior may be mottled gray and/or brown. Imbricate Cup-and-Saucer Shells reach a maximum of 8.3 cm (3.3 inches) in diameter, as established by the shell photographed above.
Habitat and Distribution: Imbricate Cup-and-Saucers are found on rocks and shells, on muddy substrates in the intertidal zone, and to depths up to 27 m (90 feet). They are a temperate to tropical Eastern Pacific species that are found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from north or Cedros Island, Baja California, along the central and northwest coasts of the Baja Peninsula.
Ecology and Behavior: Imbricate Cup-and-Saucers are suspension feeders that feed primarily on plankton, which they capture with mucus nets created by their gills. They are gonochoric and reproduce sexually, through broadcast spawning. 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 consider to be of Least Concern.
Synonyms: Calyptraea (Calypeopsis) rugosa, Calyptraea maculata, Calyptraea rugosa, Calyptraea trigonalis, Crucibulum corrugatum, Crucibulum imbricatum var. broderipii, and Patella scutellata.