''Crepidula plana'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the eastern white slippersnail, 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 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 ...

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 o ...

, the slipper snails or slipper limpets, cup-and-saucer snails, and hat snails. This species is characterized by a flat white shell, a white body, and development that includes a planktotrophic larval stage. This species often occurs inside large gastropod shells that are inhabited by hermit crabs. In this case the shells are often extremely flat, and often recurved. Like all slipper snails, ''Crepidula plana'' is a filter feeder. They brood their offspring in clusters of transparent capsules between the substrate, the propodium and the neck. ''Crepidula plana'' is native to the East Coast of North America, where it ranges from Canada to North Carolina. It has also been reported as introduced into San Francisco Bay. Reports of this species in the Gulf of Mexico or south of North Carolina are incorrect, and result from taxonomic confusion with other flat white species of ''Crepidula'', including ''

Crepidula atrasolea ''Crepidula atrasolea'' is a species of small sea snail, a slipper snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Calyptraeidae, the slipper snails or slipper limpets, cup-and-saucer snails, and hat snails. This species is similar to '' Crepid ...

'', and '' Crepidula depressa''.

Distribution

In the past, ''Crepidula plana'' has been reported to range from 48°N to 38°S; 97.75°W to 34.9°W. Much of this distribution information is incorrect, because it has not been updated to reflect the current taxonomic understanding of this group of similar species. The distribution has been reported to include: * Canada: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick * USA: Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, East Florida, West Florida, Louisiana, Flower Garden Banks (East & West), Texas * Mexico: Tamaulipas, Tabasco, Veracruz, Campeche State, Cayo Arcas, Campeche, Yucatán State, Campeche Bank, Alacran Reef, Quintana Roo * Costa Rica * Panama * Colombia * Venezuela: Gulf of Venezuela, Sucre, Isla Margarita * Bermuda * Jamaica * Virgin Islands: St. Croix * St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Grenada * Surinam * Brazil: Amapa, Ceara, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo However, since the 1980s, DNA sequence data, allozyme data and developmental data have provided evidencethat the flat white ''Crepidula'' from Eastern North America is composed to at least three distinct species. ''C. plana'' actually ranges only from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick south to Georgia or northern Florida. Records of ''C. plana'' in Southern Florida and the Gulf of Mexico are almost certainly misidentified ''C. atrasolea'' or ''C. depressa''. The identity of the flat white ''Crepidula'' species which occurs south of the Gulf of Mexico (in the Caribbean) needs to be re-examined, as it is certainly not ''C. plana''.

Description

The shell is flat and white, the internal septum is flat, and there are no muscle scars inside the shell. The length of the shell is 15 to 35 mm. The maximum recorded shell length is 43 mm. ''Crepidula plana'' produces planktotrophic larvae.

Habitat

The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 110 m.

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-SA-3.0 text from the reference Rosenberg, G. (2010). ''Crepidula plana'' Say, 1822. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=160230 on 2011-01-13

External links

*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=15 {{Taxonbar, from=Q3174948 Calyptraeidae Gastropods described in 1822