Pustularia cicercula
A rare macro find in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, where warm 26-32C reef water hides this tiny cowrie in crevices year-round.
A tiny cowrie, easy to miss unless you are hunting crevices and rubble with a torch. The glossy, oval shell shows a mottled pale-to-tan pattern with fine speckling, typical of the smaller cowrie species in this family. Look for the smooth, domed shell profile and the narrow ridged opening (aperture) on the underside, a giveaway once you flip your light onto the right spot.
Expect to find it wedged into reef crevices or under rubble during the day, staying still and relying on its shell and camouflage rather than movement to avoid notice. Divers who log it are usually macro hunters working slowly along the reef base rather than cruising open water. It shows no reaction to divers beyond staying put, since it is not aware of you as a threat.
Cowries like this one glide a fleshy mantle up over the shell when active, which is what gives the shell its glossy, unblemished polish compared to most other snail shells you will see on a reef.
Sighting data shows no clear season, and with water sitting between 25.6 and 31.6C year-round in Kwajalein, this cowrie is a possible find on any dive month to month. Treat it as a lucky spot rather than a seasonal target.
Every logged sighting for this species comes from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, making it the only confirmed place divers are finding this cowrie. Within the atoll it turns up scattered across a range of sites, though never in numbers, so patient reef scanning pays off more than site choice alone.
Mapping where Chick-pea Cowrie is logged…
The only confirmed sightings come from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, spread across a number of sites within the atoll. It has not been logged elsewhere, so this is the region to target if you want a real shot at finding one.
There is no detected season for this species, and Kwajalein's water stays warm (25.6 to 31.6C) year-round, so sightings are possible on any dive in any month.
Look for a small, glossy oval shell with a mottled tan-and-pale pattern, tucked into reef crevices or rubble. The smooth domed shape and narrow ridged underside opening are the key features once you spot it under torchlight.
Exact size data is not confirmed for this species, but it belongs to a group of notably small cowries, so expect a shell you could easily overlook without a close macro search.
Yes, it is logged as rare at most sites where divers have found it, with only a handful of sites reporting it as uncommon. Finding one is a real macro-hunting reward rather than a routine sighting.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Elysia Timida
573 sites
