[Simon Thurgood Images] [Simon Thurgood Images]


Gallery - Sea Snails

[climpet1]Common Limpet (Patella vulgaris)

Up to 6cm in diameter. Shell conical and more or less circular at base. Those on highest parts of shore are taller than those further down. Greenish-grey or brown, pearly white inside. Foot more or less circular.


[cperi1]Common Periwinkle (Littorina littorea)

Upn to 3cm. Dark greenish-grey or almost black, sometimes with paler bands. Shell thick. Browses on seaweeds on rocks and stones at around low tide.


[cperi2]Thick Top Shell or Toothed Winkle (Osilinus lineatus)

Thick Top Shell or Toothed winkle.


[cwhelk2]Common Whelk (Buccinum undatum)

Up to 12cm, with short curved siphon canal. White to sandy grey. On sand, mud and stones. Eats carrion and also preys on bivalves.


[slipperl1]Slipper Limpet (Crepidula fornicata)

Up to 6cm long. cream to brown, often spotted with red. Resembles half a bivalve shell, but with a thick white plate extending half way across the underside. Often found in "chains" with three or more shells fixed together. A filter feeder. Introduced from America.


[flattop1]Flat Topshell (Gibbula umbilicalis)

Cream or greenish with reddish-purple strips, found middle shore on rocks and in pools.


[towershell2]Tower or Common Turret Shell (Turritella communis)

Up to 5cm. Yellowish-brown to brick-red. Common in mud and sand just offshore, usually buried up to tip of spire. Feeds on algae and detritus.



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