Flat periwinkle
size:
up to 17 millimeters
color:
many colors (yellow, orange, brown or green) depending upon the seaweed it lives on
food:
mainly brown seaweed
enemies:
crabs, such as shore crabs
reproduction:
sexual
- Dut: Stompe alikruik (stompe krükel)
- Lat: Littorina obtusata
- Eng: Flat periwinkle
- Ger: Flache Strandschnecke
- Dan: Butspiret strandsnegl
print
- Flat periwinkle, foto fitis, sytske dijksen
Flat periwinkle
Flat periwinkles are smaller than common periwinkles, but stand out due to their bright colors. The shell can vary between yellow, orange, brown or green, and even blue-gray fossils are found. Of all periwinkle species, this species is the least resistant to dehydration during low tide. Therefore, it lives deeper than other periwinkles in order to avoid lying exposed during low tide. Should that happen, it crawls at its fastest snail rate under a seaweed or stone.
- Distribution and habitat
- Flat periwinkle, Foto Fitis, www.fotofitis.nl
Flat periwinkles are found on all Western European coasts. It is very common in the tidal zones in the delta and the wadden regions.
See also
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