''Austrolittorina unifasciata'', common name the banded periwinkle, 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 ...

, a marine

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 ...

mollusk 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 e ...

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 ...

Littorinidae The Littorinidae are a taxonomic family of over 200 species of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha, commonly known as periwinkles and found worldwide. Names In English-speaking countries, gastropod molluscs from o ...

, the winkles or periwinkles. It is also known as the blue periwinkle.

Description

The shell size varies between and .

Distribution

This species is the only one of its genus found in Australia. It is distributed in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

off

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia and in the Indian Ocean off

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. This common periwinkle also lives on the rocky shore of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is also commonly found in South Pacific Islands such as

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

Ecology

This species of periwinkle lives in the splash zone and high

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

, where it is found in clusters of individuals. The banded periwinkle grazes on

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

e. This small snail is eaten by

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

References

* Gray, J.E. 1826. ''Mollusca''. pp. 474–496 in King, P.P. (ed.). Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia. Performed between the years 1818 and 1822; with Appendix B. London : John Murray Vol. 2 viii 637 pp., 9 pls * Quoy, J.R.C. & Gaimard, J.P. 1833. ''Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe, exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1829''. Paris : J. Tastu Zoologie Vol. 2 pp. 321–686. * Menke, C.T. 1843. ''Molluscorum Novae Hollandiae'' Specimen in Libraria Aulica Hahniana. Hannoverae : Libraria Aulica Hahniana pp. 1–46. * Philippi, R.A. 1847. ''Abbildungen und Beschreibungen neuer oder wenig gekannter Conchylien.'' Cassel : Theodor Fischer Vol. 2 pp. 153–232 * Gray, M.E. 1850. ''Figures of molluscous animals, selected from various authors''. London : Longmans, Brown & Green Vol. 4 124 pp * Nevill, G. 1885. ''Hand List of Mollusca in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Part 2. Gastropoda''. Calcutta : Government Printer pp. 1–306 * Allan, J.K. 1950. ''Australian Shells: with related animals living in the sea, in freshwater and on the land.'' Melbourne : Georgian House xix, 470 pp., 45 pls, 112 text figs. * W.J. Dakin – ''Australian Sea Shores''; Angus and Robertson Publishers (1952) * Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. ''A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales''. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109 * Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. 1962. ''Marine Molluscs of Victoria. Melbourne'' : Melbourne University Press & National Museum of Victoria 475 pp. * Rosewater, J. 1970. ''The family Littorinidae in the Indo-Pacific. Part I.'' The subfamily Littorininae. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 2(11): 417–506 * Branch, G.M. & Branch, M.L. 1981. ''Experimental analysis of intraspecific competition in an intertidal gastropod Littorina unifasciata''. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 32: 573–589 * McKillup, S.C. 1981. ''Avoidance of the Predatory Whelk Lepsiella scobina albomarginata by Littorina cincta and Littorina unifasciata''. The Veliger 24(2): 167–171 * Reid, D.G. (1989) ''The comparative morphology, phylogeny and evolution of the gastropod family Littorinidae''. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 324: 1–110 * McMahon, R.F. 1992. ''Microgeographic variation in the shell morphometrics of Nodilittorina unifasciata from southwestern Australia in relation to wave exposure off shore.'' pp. 107–117 in Grahame, J., Mill, P.J. & Reid, D.G. (eds). Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Littorinid Biology. London : Malacological Society of London. * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp. * G.J. Edgar, ''Australian Marine Life'' ; Reed New Holland Publishers (1997) * Reid, D.G. & Williams, S.T. (2004) ''The subfamily Littorininae (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) in the temperate Southern Hemisphere: the genera Nodilittorina, Austrolittorina and Afrolittorina''. Records of the Australian Museum 56: 75122.

External links

* * Image of a cluster of individuals

* Historical descriptions and illustrations: ** John Edward Gray, Gray, John Edward (1826). "Mollusca" (Part of "Appendix B: containing a list and description of the subjects of natural history collected during Captain King's survey..." ''in'' King, Phillip P. ''Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia''.). Species 48
p. 483
*
p. 479
** Figures 8–11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Austrolittorina Unifasciata Littorinidae Gastropods described in 1826 Taxa named by John Edward Gray