''Acmaea mitra'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the whitecap limpet, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

or true

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended indep ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Acmaeidae Acmaeidae is a family of sea snails, specifically true limpets, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Lottioidea and the subclass Patellogastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Bouchet, P. ...

, one of the families of true limpets.

Taxonomy

''Acmaea mitra'' was placed in the family Acmaeidae for many years, but based on molecular phylogeny evidence by Nakano & Ozawa (2007) Acmaeidae was synonymized with

Lottiidae Lottiidae is a family of sea snails, specifically true limpets, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Lottioidea and the clade Patellogastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Subfamilies 20 ...

. However, this synonymy was subsequently found incorrect, having been the result of contaminated samples, and ''Acmaea mitra'' and a related species, '' Niveotectura pallida'' form a well-supported clade outside of the

, and Acmaeidae was re-established. ''Acmaea mitra'' is the type of the genus ''

Acmaea ''Acmaea'' is a genus of sea snails, specifically true limpets, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Acmaeidae, one of the families of true limpets.Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G.; Gofas, S. (2014). Acmaea Eschscholtz, 1833. Accessed through: ...

''Gofas, S. (2009). Acmaea Eschscholtz, 1833. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2009) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137616 on 2010-03-30

References

File:Acmaea mitra 002.jpg, apical view File:Acmaea mitra 001.jpg, basal view

mitra ''Mitra'' ( Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity from which the names and some characteristics of Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra derive. The names (and occasionally also some characteristics) of these t ...

Gastropods described in 1833 {{Patellogastropoda-stub