Biodiversity & Conservation

China limpet - Patella ulyssiponensis - General information

Patella ulyssiponensis

Image David Fenwick - Shell of the china limpet on rocky shore Image width ca XX cm
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Distribution map

Patella ulyssiponensis recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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General information

Key Icon Researched by: Ken Neal and Marie Skewes Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Gastropoda Snails, slugs & sea butterflies
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland The china limpet is found around most of the coast of the British Isles, reaching its northern limit in the Shetland Isles. Absent or rare on south-east shores of England from the Humber Estuary to the Isle of Wight.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Common on exposed rocky shores, avoiding extreme shelter and low salinities. Present on the lower shore and, rarely, in the shallow sublittoral. Also occurring in shallow rock pools on the middle shore and on overhanging rocks and the sides of gullies.
Text page icon Description Shell forming a low cone with ridges on the outer surface that project noticeably around the edges of the shell. Patella ulyssiponensis reaches up to 6 cm in length and the apex is noticeably anterior to the centre. The outer surface of the shell is a whitish-grey while the inner surface is a porcellanous white, with a yellow or orange hint towards the apex. The sole of the foot is orange or yellow, and the mantle is edged with translucent white tentacles.

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal and Marie Skewes 2004. Patella ulyssiponensis. China limpet. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 25/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=4049>