''Patella ulyssiponensis'',
common name the rough limpet, or China 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 appropriate s ...
of
sea snail, a
true limpet, a marine
gastropod 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 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
Patellidae is a taxonomic family of sea snails or true limpets, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Patellogastropoda.
(The superfamily Patelloidea should not be confused with the similar-sounding genus of true limpets '' Patelloida'' which ...
, one of the families of true limpets.
Despite its common name, the China limpet is found throughout the Eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Compared with the common limpet, ''
Patella vulgata
''Patella vulgata'', common name the common limpet or common European limpet is a species of sea snail. It is a typical true limpet; a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, with gills.Gofas, S. (2014). Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758 ...
'', the rough limpet has a similar shell (maximum size 50mm long x 40 mm wide x 20 mm high, apex closer to the front of the animal/ anterior than to the back/ posterior) but with radiating ridges that are finer and which alternate 1-ridge/ 3-ridges around the shell in a distinct pattern. The interior of the shell is often tinged orange towards its apex. The foot is a cream-orange color, and the dozens of pallial tentacles are translucent and colorless, arranged in two series of different sizes. No other characteristics of body structure or shell morphology distinguish it from ''P. vulgata'', to which it is otherwise identical.
Etymology
''Patella ulyssiponensis'' can be divided into the Latin words ''Patella'', meaning "little pan", and ''ulyssiponensis'', meaning "from
Lisbon".
Description
Distribution
''Patella ulyssiponensis'' is found in the European Atlantic area north to the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
and also in the Mediterranean.
Uses
In
Madeira Island in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, ''Patella ulyssiponensis'', known locally as ''Lapa'', is eaten after cooking in a pan with garlic and lemon juice.
References
Gmelin, J.F. (1791) Vermes. In Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Editio Decima Tertia, Aucta Reformata. Tome 1, Pars 6 (Vermes). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae [Leipzig], pp. 3021–3910
External links
Patellidae
Marine molluscs of Asia
Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin
Gastropods described in 1791
{{Patellidae-stub