''Scutellastra argenvillei'' or Argenville's limpet, is a species 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

true limpet The Patellogastropoda, common name true limpets and historically called the Docoglossa, are members of a major phylogenetic group of marine gastropods, treated by experts either as a clade or as a taxonomic order. The clade Patellogastropoda ...

, 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 in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is endemic to the south and west coasts of Namibia and South Africa in southern Africa.

Description

It is a large and relatively tall limpet, with an oval base, slightly narrower at one end, with a maximum size of about 90 mm. The outer surface has fine radiating ridges, and the apex is commonly eroded. Inner surface is generally white.

Ecology

This limpet is abundant on moderately exposed shores in the low inter-tidal and shallow subtidal zone on the west coast of South Africa, but is being displaced by the invasive Mediterranean mussel ''

Mytilus galloprovincialis The Mediterranean mussel (''Mytilus galloprovincialis'') is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture. Systematics ''Mytilus galloprov ...

''. The lower inter-tidal zone in this area is also referred to as the ''Cochlear-Argenvillei'' zone. It feeds on kelp by trapping the edge of fronds under the edge of its shell while feeding. Scutellastra argenvillei 001

References

* Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) ''Sea Shells of Southern Africa''. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp. page(s): 37 * Koufopanou et al. (1999). ''A molecular phylogeny of the patellid limpets (Gastropoda: Patellidae) and its implications for the origins of their antitropical distribution'' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 11(1):138-156
Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). ''Two Oceans''. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg
* Nakano & Ozawa (2007). ''Worldwide phylogeography of limpets of the order Patellogastropoda: Molecular, morphological and palaeontological evidence''. Journal of Molluscan Studies 73(1) 79–99. * * Patellidae Gastropods described in 1848 Taxa named by Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss {{Patellidae-stub