Scientific Name: Littorina littorea

Phylum : Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Description: Coiled shell, operculum is usually present and corneous, rarely calcified. Its head has a pair of tentacles with basal eyes.

Distribution: Abundant intertidally, attached to any substratum.

Locomotion: Foot with pedal retractor muscles that are attached to the shell and dorsal mantle, and are used to raise, lower or shorten the foot.

Food gathering/digestion: Periwinkles are herbivores that browse on algal films. A scraping, file like ‘radula’ is located within the mouth. Periwinkles can also withstand long periods without food or water.

Gas Exchange: True gills locate under the shell.

Reproduction: The sexes are separated and male is with a penis. After internal fertilization, eggs are laid in capsules. Typical swimming trochophore and veliger larval stages exist.

Interesting Facts: They are sold in Italian fish markets; and are edible after light boiling in sea water.

OSC Research

Mercier Lab - Research on reproduction, larval development, ecology and growth is carried out on a wide variety of marine invertebrates in this lab.