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''Patella vulgata'',
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 common limpet or common European 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 appropriat ...
of
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 ...
. It is a typical true
limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical gastropod shell, shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" ...
; 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 est ...
in the
family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Patellidae, with gills.Gofas, S. (2014). Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140685 on 2014-10-29 This species occurs in the waters of Western
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.


Radula

The
radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...
in this species is longer than the shell itself. It contains 1,920 teeth in 160 rows of 12 teeth each. ''Patella vulgata'' is found attached to firm substrates from the high shore to the edge of the sublittoral zone, although it predominates in areas of wave action. Its shell is conical, up to around 6 cm long, and lacks defined chirality. Common limpets are believed to be able to live for up to twenty years. ''Patella vulgata'' has been the focus of a range of scientific investigation, as far back as 1935. Its development is well described and it has been the focus of transcriptomic investigation, providing a range of genomic sequence data in this species for analysis. Their teeth are the strongest natural material known. A study published in the Royal Society journal in 2015 concluded that "the tensile strength of limpet teeth can reach values significantly higher than spider silk, considered to be currently the strongest biological material, and only comparable to the strongest commercial carbon fibres.” The material was able to withstand 4.9 GPa. This considerable tensile strength of limpet teeth is attributed to a high mineral volume fraction of reinforcing
goethite Goethite (, ) is a mineral of the diaspore group, consisting of iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, specifically the "α" polymorph. It is found in soil and other low-temperature environments such as sediment. Goethite has been well known since ancient t ...
nanofibres.Webb, Jonathan.
Limpet teeth set new strength record
''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...
'', 18 February 2015.


Human consumption

The common limpet was formerly eaten in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, especially during times of hunger such as the Great Famine of 1845–50; it was known to be very tough and had to be thoroughly boiled or roasted to be edible. One Irish proverb said that "Mussels are the food of kings, limpets are the food of peasants." Tomas O'Crohan described eating them in his memoir ''The Islandman''. They are also consumed in Asturias in Spain under the name "Llampares"


See also

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


Gallery

Patella vulgata Napfschnecke.jpg, Shells of the common limpet from
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
Napfschnecke common-limpet patella vulgata.jpg, ''Patella vulgata'' in
litoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal area ...
of
Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.
, near Porspoder - the region affected by the
Amoco Cadiz ''Amoco Cadiz'' was a VLCC (very large crude carrier) owned by Amoco Transport Corp and transporting crude oil for Shell Oil. Operating under the Liberian flag of convenience, she ran aground on 16 March 1978 on Portsall Rocks, from the coa ...
tanker disaster in 1978 View on the animal of Patella vulgata.png, Drawing of the soft body and underside of the shell of ''Patella vulgata''; a) foot b) fringed mantle c) tentacles d) mouth e) eyes f) gills File:Napfschnecke4.jpg, Photograph of the soft body and underside Radula of Patella vulgata.png, Radula of ''Patella vulgata''; a) median teeth b) laterals c) uncini or marginals Altamira Patella vulgata Édouard Harlé MHNT.PRE.20120.0.608.jpg, Remains of a human meal, limpet shells from Cantabrian Lower
Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madel ...
layer of the
Altamira Altamira may refer to: People *Altamira (surname) Places * Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...
cave. - MHNT Patella vulgata 2015-09-08 ag M0010161.jpg, ''Patella vulgata'' in its natural habitat.


References


Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp.
* Lespinet, Nederbragt, Cassan, Dictus, Van Loon, et al. ''Characterisation of two snail genes in the gastropod mollusc Patella vulgata. Implications for understanding the ancestral function of the snail-related genes in Bilateria.'' 2002.


External links


Entry
in
Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of ...

MarLIN species information

Live underwater image

BBC Info retrieved 2012


* {{Taxonbar, from=Q182258 Patellidae Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Marine molluscs of Europe Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus