This species has been harvested since pre-Hispanic times. In Mexico, it was harvested heavily in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to closing of the fishery in 1988. However, the harvest has continued, and it is feared that Scutellastra mexicana is in danger of extinction.[2][3]
Scutellastra mexicana occurs along the American Pacific coast from Mexico to Peru.[2][3] It inhabits lower intertidal and subtidal rocky areas exposed to heavy swells.[3]
^ abBieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Scutellastra mexicana (Broderip & G.B. Sowerby I, 1829)". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ abcCarballo, José Luis; Yáñez, Benjamín; Bautista‐Guerrero, Eric; García‐Gómez, José Carlos; Espinosa, Free; Tortolero‐Langarica, José J.A. & Michel‐Morfín, Jesús Emilio (2020). "Decimation of a population of the endangered species Scutellastra mexicana (Broderip and Sowerby, 1829) (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Marías Island (Eastern Ocean Pacific) Biosphere Reserve". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 30 (1): 20–30. doi:10.1002/aqc.3239.