Delicate shell up to about 4mm high. It has up to 3 whorls with the last whorl occupying about 90% of the height of th shell - the spire is very low. The aperure is relatively large. The shell possesses an umbilicalis and relatively broad grove running into this. The shell is brownish in colour with a slight periostracum.
Key identification features
- Relatively low spire
- Bands??
Similar species
- Lacuna vincta has a more pronounced spire
Ecology and behaviour
Found on lower shore on Fucus serratus and Fucus vesiculosus and some red algae. The spawn is a hemispherical clear mass of jelly containing about ten eggs which hatch as juvenile snails. The species is annual dying after spawning.
Distribution and status
Common
Occurs from th Barents Sea south to Iberia.