Patella vulgata | |
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Live Patella vulgata on a rock in Wales | |
Shell of Patella vulgata | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
(unranked): | clade Patellogastropoda |
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Genus: | |
Species: | P. vulgata |
Binomial name | |
Patella vulgata | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Patella vulgata, common name the common limpet or common European limpet [2] is a species of sea snail. It is a typical true limpet; a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, with gills. [1] This species occurs in the waters of Western Europe.
The radula in this species is longer than the shell itself. It contains 1,920 teeth in 160 rows of 12 teeth each. Patella vulgata is found attached to firm substrates from the high shore to the edge of the sublittoral zone, although it predominates in areas of wave action. Its shell is conical, up to around 6 cm long, and lacks defined chirality. Common limpets are believed to be able to live for up to twenty years. [3]
Patella vulgata has been the focus of a range of scientific investigation, as far back as 1935. [4] Its development is well described [5] and it has been the focus of transcriptomic investigation, providing a range of genomic sequence data in this species for analysis. [6]
Their teeth are the strongest natural material known. A study published in the Royal Society journal in 2015 concluded that "the tensile strength of limpet teeth can reach values significantly higher than spider silk, considered to be currently the strongest biological material, and only comparable to the strongest commercial carbon fibres.” The material was able to withstand 4.9 GPa. This considerable tensile strength of limpet teeth is attributed to a high mineral volume fraction of reinforcing goethite nanofibres. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
The common limpet was formerly eaten in Ireland, especially during times of hunger such as the Great Famine of 1845–50; it was known to be very tough and had to be thoroughly boiled or roasted to be edible. [12] One Irish proverb said that "Mussels are the food of kings, limpets are the food of peasants." [13] Tomas O'Crohan described eating them in his memoir The Islandman. [14] They are also consumed in Asturias in Spain under the name "Llampares" and in Portugal under the name "Lapas".
Limpets are a group of aquatic snails with a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). Existing within the class Gastropoda, limpets are a polyphyletic group.
Patella pellucida, common name the blue-rayed limpet, is a species of small saltwater limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, the true limpets.
The Patellogastropoda, common name true limpets and historically called the Docoglossa, are members of a major phylogenetic group of marine gastropods, treated by experts either as a clade or as a taxonomic order.
Crepidula fornicata is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Calyptraeidae, the slipper snails and cup and saucer snails. It has many common names, including common slipper shell, common Atlantic slippersnail, boat shell, quarterdeck shell, fornicating slipper snail, Atlantic slipper limpet and it is in Britain as the "common slipper limpet".
Patellidae is a taxonomic family of true limpets, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Patelloidea. (The superfamily Patelloidea should not be confused with the similar-sounding genus of true limpets Patelloida which is in the family Lottiidae within the superfamily Lottioidea, also part of the Patellogastropoda.)
Cellana exarata, common name the black-foot ʻopihi and Hawaiian blackfoot is a species of edible true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Nacellidae, one of the families of true limpets. ‘Opihi are significant in Hawaiian history where they have had many uses such as food, tools, and jewelry. They are known as a "fish of death".
Diodora graeca, the Greek keyhole limpet, is a sea snail or limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.
Cymbula adansonii is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae. It is one of the several families of true limpets. Marine gastropods, colloquially classified as snails and slugs, encompass the entire class of invertebrates in the Mollusca phylum. True limpets, are pelagic snails within the Patellidae family.
Cymbula granatina, the granite limpet, is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. Unlike some other species of giant limpet, C. granatina is non-territorial, and feeds on a variety of different algae.
Patella caerulea, is a species of limpet in the family Patellidae. It is known by the common names Mediterranean limpet and rayed Mediterranean limpet. It is native to the Mediterranean Sea.
Patella ferruginea, commonly known as the ferruginous limpet is a species of true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae. It is a large limpet, endemic to the western Mediterranean Sea, and although common in the past, it is now rare and restricted to only a few locations.
Patella lugubris is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets.
Patella rustica, the Lusitanian limpet or rustic limpet is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is a rocky shore intertidal mollusc found throughout the Mediterranean and the north-east Atlantic from Mauritania to southern France.
Patella ulyssiponensis, common name the rough limpet, or China limpet is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. Despite its common name, the China limpet is found throughout the Eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Scutellastra cochlear is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is commonly known as the snail patella, the pear limpet or the spoon limpet and is native to South Africa. It often grows in association with the crustose coralline alga Spongites yendoi and a filamentous red alga which it cultivates in a garden. It was first described by the malacologist Ignaz von Born in 1778 as Patella cochlear.
Emarginula fissura, the common slit limpet, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.
The subfamily Fissurellinae, common name the keyhole limpets and slit limpets, is a taxonomic subfamily of limpet-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Fissurellidae.
Patella depressa is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets.
In 1758, in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, the Swedish scientist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus described the class "Vermes" as:
Animals of slow motion, soft substance, able to increase their bulk and restore parts which have been destroyed, extremely tenacious of life, and the inhabitants of moist places. Many of them are without a distinct head, and most of them without feet. They are principally distinguished by their tentacles. By the Ancients they were not improperly called imperfect animals, as being destitute of ears, nose, head, eyes and legs; and are therefore totally distinct from Insects.