#898 - Cellana tramoserica - Variegated Limpet
The variegation refers to not only the colour of this very common south-eastern limpet, but to the changing shape of the shell depending on how exposed a position it’s living in. Flatter shells are found subtidally or close to the seaward edge of rock platforms, and high-profile shells live higher up the shore. This is the result of two different pressures - resistance to waves and resistance to desiccation. Shells on the seaward edge of the rock platform face stronger wave action, and lower shells cope better with high wave forces. Higher up the rocks limpets clamp down more tightly to prevent water loss, pulling the mantle (which secretes the shell), closer to the body. Thus the shell grows taller.
Herbivores that graze of the rock surface when the tide is in. They’re extremely efficient at stripping all microalgae and spores off the surface, and the major factor in keeping intertidal rock surfaces bare of algae.
Little Bay, Sydney