''Crepidula atrasolea'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of small

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a slipper snail, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Calyptraeidae The Calyptraeidae are a family of small to medium-sized marine prosobranch gastropods.MolluscaBase. Calyptraeidae Lamarck, 1809. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=141 on ...

, the slipper snails or slipper limpets, cup-and-saucer snails, and hat snails. This species is similar to '' Crepidula plana'' and '' Crepidula depressa'', but it can be distinguished from them on the basis of the dark pigment on the foot, and direct-developing embryos. DNA sequence data shows that these three species are closely related within the genus ''Crepidula'', but are not closely related to other flat white species of ''Crepidula'', which occur throughout the phylogeny of the genus. A video showing the differences between the species is availabl
CollinLab videos

Distribution

This species occurs in the Western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. This species occurs in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Flat white ''Crepidula'' occurring north of this range are almost certainly '' Crepidula plana''. Old records often confuse '' Crepidula plana'', ''Crepidula atrasolea'' and '' Crepidula depressa'', and distribution data should be treated with caution, unless it includes observations of development type, body color, or genetic data.

Description

The maximum recorded

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

length is 15.8 mm. The maximum shell size of this species occurs in females; males are much smaller.

Habitat

The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; maximum recorded depth is 20 m. ''Crepidula atrasolea'' is particularly common living on dead oyster shells in shall reefs and seagrass beds in Florida.

References

External links

Info on the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, a report by R. Collin of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the author of the species

Malacolog info about this species
* http://www.stri.si.edu/sites/collinlab/tree_species/group_c_plana.html * http://www.stri.si.edu/sites/collinlab/tree_species/details.php?id=4
pdfs of publications on calyptraeids by R. Collin
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5184257 Calyptraeidae Gastropods described in 2000