Pedicularia pacifica Pease, 1865
Stylaster shell, 6.0mm

The genus Pedicularia has traditionally been placed with the Ovulidae, but recent studies indicate it belongs in its own family, the Pediculariidae. Pedicularia species live tightly adhering to hard corals in the genera Distichopora and Stylaster, and the shapes of the shells are variable to conform to the location on the coral where they live. A number of species have been named, but it is often difficult to tell them apart without comparison with a series of specimens from the different species. Shells vary in color depending on the color of the host; we have seen them in red, purple, orange, and yellow, usually pretty closely matching the color of their respective Stylaster and Distichopora colonies. Lorenz & Fehse (2009) state that P. pacifica lives on Stylaster at depths exceeding 30m while P. vanderlandi, which has finer striae over the shell, lives on Distichopora in shallower water. We have split our specimens into the two species based on where they were found: P. pacifica on Stylaster and P. vanderlandi on Distichopora. However, our specimens on Stylaster were most often shallower than 30m and it appears to us that the more common specimens on Distichopora bear striations that vary from fine to coarse. DNA analysis may shed more light on the differences between these two species.

The specimen below appears to be feeding on its Stylaster.

The shell below, which looks a lot like one of our living Pedicularia vanderlandi, was found on a broken piece of Stylaster at the base of an overhang. The purple one below measured 6.0mm.

The pink shell below was one of a number of Pedicularia on a piece of Stylaster at 61m on the seaward reef and measured 5.8mm.

Created 10 August 2009
Updated 23 March 2020

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