Cenchritis muricatus

Cenchritis muricatus
Five views of a shell of Cenchritis muricatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:	Littorinoidea
Family:	Littorinidae
Genus:	Cenchritis
Species:	C. muricatus
Binomial name
Cenchritis muricatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms [1]
Tectarius muricatus(Linnaeus, 1758) Trochus muricatusLinnaeus, 1758 Turbo muricatusLinnaeus, 1758

Cenchritis muricatus is a species of sea snail in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles. It occurs in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles. ^[1] It is known commonly as the beaded periwinkle. ^[2]

This snail often crawls out of the water and climbs vertical rocky cliffs to heights of over 14 meters, where it avoids desiccation and overheating by hiding in moist crevices. ^[3]

References

1. Reid, D. G. (2014). Cenchritis muricatus (Linnaeus, 1758). World Register of Marine Species. Accessed 2 September 2014.
2. Díaz-Ferguson, E., et al. (2012). Genetic structure and connectivity patterns of two Caribbean rocky-intertidal gastropods. Journal of Molluscan Studies 78(1) 112-18.
3. Judge, M. L., et al. (2009). Life in the supralittoral fringe: Microhabitat choice, mobility and growth in the tropical periwinkle Cenchritis (=Tectarius) muricatus (Linneaus [sic], 1758). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 369(2) 148–54.

Further reading

• Reid, D. G. (1989a). The comparative morphology, phylogeny and evolution of the gastropod family Littorinidae. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 324: 1–110.
• Rosenberg, G., et al. 2009. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D. L. and D. K. Camp (eds.). Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.

Cenchritis muricatus (beaded periwinkle snails), grazing in the supratidal rocky shore zone, San Salvador Island, Bahamas