Vernacular names: Blue-rayed limpet
Conical shell up to 20mm in length (var. pellucidum tends to be smaller). Shell is brown or olive in colour and can either be tranlucent (var. pellucidum) or opaque (var. laevis). The surface of the shell is smooth with very fine radiating ridges. Conical shaped Var. laevis tends to have a thinker shell and more pronounced conical shape.
- Blue rays on apex which often extend down to margin
Typically found on Laminaria but may also occur on fucoids. There are two varieties: var. pellucidum which occurs on the fronds and stipe of the Laminaria and var. laevis which occupies the holdfast. Breeds mainly in winter and spring. Fertilisation is external and the larvae initially settle on fucoids, migrating to Laminaria when they are about 4mm in length.
Rendall (1955) observed the following:
"Coalfish [Saithe] feeding on Patina pellucida [now Patella pellucida Linnaeus, 1758] - In the stomach of a coalfish (Gadus virens L. [now Pollachius virens]) caught off the shore at Birsay, Orkney, on 6 January 1955 I found dense masses of Patina pellucida (L.), as many as a dozen complete specimens in a fish about ten inches long, together with a few Lacuna vincta (Montagu). Shoals of coalfish come close inshore towards the end of summer and stay there throughout autumn and early winter. P. pellucida is evidently a staple article of their diet".
Common. Found on all Atlantic coasts from Portugal to the north of Norway.
Patella pellucida
The map provided here shows the distribution of the species based on Conchological Society data held by the National Biodiversity Network (NBN). See terms and conditions.
The following datasets are included:
- Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland: marine mollusc records
Open an NBN Atlas interactive map of this data in a new window.
Taxon details available from MolluscaBase (AphiaID 147459):
Patella pellucida Linnaeus, 1758
The UK NBN Atlas entry for the species can be accessed via this link.
Rendall, R. (1955). Coalfish feeding on Patina pellucida. Journal of Conchology, 24(2), p39. Available via this link.