''Lottia scutum'' 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), ...

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

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 is ...

, 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 ...

Lottiidae Lottiidae is a family (biology), family of sea snails, specifically true limpets, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Lottioidea and the clade Patellogastropoda (according to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocr ...

, one of the families of true limpets.

Description

''L. scutum'' is a plate limpet. It grows to up to sixty millimetres long with a broad, flat shell. The apex is near the front and the anterior slope is smooth and convex with inconspicuous riblets. The colour varies from grey to tan with whitish spots and rays, and the head has golden brown cephalic tentacles which distinguishes it from other species.Eogastropoda: Rocky Shore Limpets
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Distribution

''L. scutum'' is found on the Pacific coast of North America from the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

southwards to

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as ...

, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lottia Scutum Lottiidae Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Taxa named by Martin Rathke Gastropods described in 1833