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Littorina plena is a very small shellfish that inhabits the Pacific coast of the United States from California to the Gulf of Alaska.
The color and pattern of Littorina plena can vary greatly, but the outside of the shell is usually checkered and can feature a range of colors, including dark brown, purple, green, black, and white.
Other possible patterns include spots, zigzag lines, fine vertical and/or horizontal etching stripes, or various combinations thereof.
The shells never have a pronounced spiral shape, and the outer structure is often covered with algae depending on the local habitat (e.g., sheltered coast vs. wave-exposed coast).
The inside of the shell is almost always violet (Keep and Longstreth 1935). The websites WoRMS and iNaturalist show the large differences in the appearance of the animals particularly well.
It is interesting to note that the shellfish achieves its highest growth rates and reproduces in winter.
To do this, the snail seeks out particularly sheltered microhabitats such as small holes or cracks and crevices in rocks, and feeds on the winter algae bloom.
The color and pattern of Littorina plena can vary greatly, but the outside of the shell is usually checkered and can feature a range of colors, including dark brown, purple, green, black, and white.
Other possible patterns include spots, zigzag lines, fine vertical and/or horizontal etching stripes, or various combinations thereof.
The shells never have a pronounced spiral shape, and the outer structure is often covered with algae depending on the local habitat (e.g., sheltered coast vs. wave-exposed coast).
The inside of the shell is almost always violet (Keep and Longstreth 1935). The websites WoRMS and iNaturalist show the large differences in the appearance of the animals particularly well.
It is interesting to note that the shellfish achieves its highest growth rates and reproduces in winter.
To do this, the snail seeks out particularly sheltered microhabitats such as small holes or cracks and crevices in rocks, and feeds on the winter algae bloom.
