Biodiversity & Conservation

Common limpet - Patella vulgata - General information

Patella vulgata

Image Keith Hiscock - Patella vulgata on rock. Image width ca 20 cm
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Distribution map

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

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Patella vulgata?
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Patella vulgata is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Jacqueline Hill Text page icon Refereed by: Prof. Steve J. Hawkins

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 Found on all British and Irish coasts wherever there is a suitable hard substratum.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Patella vulgata is found wherever there is substratum firm enough for its attachment on rocks, stones and in rock pools, from the high shore to the sublittoral fringe. It is abundant on all rocky shores of all degrees of wave exposure although the highest densities of Patella vulgata coincide with wave exposed conditions. The species is usually not abundant on shores with a dense growth of seaweed. Patella vulgata extends into estuaries, surviving salinities down to about 20 psu.
Text page icon Description The conical shell of Patella vulgata is up to 6 cm long with radiating ridges and the apex central or slightly anterior. Individuals from the high shore generally have a taller shell and smaller shell length when compared to juveniles and low shore animals. The outer surface of the shell is greyish white or ashen, sometimes with a yellow tint, and has coarse radiating ridges and well-marked growth lines. The inner surface is smooth and greenish-grey in colour. The sole of the foot is yellowish, dull orange or brown with a grey or greenish tinge. The mantle skirt is fringed with translucent pallial tentacles arranged in three series of different lengths, internal to which lies a complete circlet of pallial gills.

This review can be cited as follows:

Jacqueline Hill 2008. Patella vulgata. Common 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=4050>