Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Tectura virginea

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Superfamily
  
Lottioidea

Genus
  
Tectura

Phylum
  
Mollusca

Class
  
Gastropoda

Family
  
Lottiidae

Scientific name
  
Tectura virginea

Rank
  
Species

Tectura virginea httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonscc

Similar
  
Testudinalia testudinalis, Lottiidae, Lottia antillarum, Iothia fulva, Diodora graeca

Tectura virginea is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Lottiidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is commonly known as the white tortoiseshell limpet.

Contents

Description

T. virginea is rather smaller than Testudinalia testudinalis, the tortoiseshell limpet, growing to 15mm in length with a height of 6mm. The shell is white with purplish bands radiating from the apex. which is tilted forward and about a third of the way along the shell. The flesh is creamy coloured or pale pink. The broad foot is oval and the head bears a pair of long tentacles with tiny black eyes located near their base.

Distribution and habitat

The white tortoiseshell limpet is found on the north west coasts of Europe from Norway south to the Mediterranean Sea including the North Sea. It lives in the neritic zone below low water mark down to a depth of about one hundred metres. It favours rock pools and smooth rock covered with encrusting red algae such as Lithothamnion on which it feeds.

References

Tectura virginea Wikipedia