''Tectura virginea'' 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

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 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 ...

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 ...

, one of the families of true limpets. It is commonly known as the white tortoiseshell limpet.The Marine Flora & Fauna of Norway
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Description

''T. virginea'' is rather smaller than '' Testudinalia testudinalis'', the tortoiseshell limpet, growing to 15mm in length with a height of 6mm. The shell is white with purplish bands radiating from the apex. which is tilted forward and about a third of the way along the shell. The flesh is creamy coloured or pale pink. The broad foot is oval and the head bears a pair of long tentacles with tiny black eyes located near their base.Marine Species Identification Portal
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Distribution and habitat

The white tortoiseshell limpet is found on the north west coasts of Europe from Norway south to the Mediterranean Sea including the North Sea. It lives in the neritic zone below low water mark down to a depth of about one hundred metres. It favours rock pools and smooth rock covered with encrusting red algae such as ''

Lithothamnion ''Lithothamnion'' is a genus of thalloid red alga comprising 103 species. Its members are known by a number of common names.Recorded common names are griuán, maërl, punalevä-suku, stenhinna and maerl. The monomerous, crustose thalli are compos ...

'' on which it feeds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tectura virginea Lottiidae Gastropods described in 1776 Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller