Species group · Gastropods
Limpets
WAnimals has 2 species of limpet, spread across 2 families (Fissurellidae, Patellidae).
- 2 species
- 2 families
- 36 countries
- 52 parks
- Length
- 2 cm – 7 cm
- Lifespan
- 15 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.
All 2 species of limpets on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 36 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
- Caldera de Taburiente2 species
- Garajonay2 species
- Madeira2 species
- Teide2 species
- Timanfaya2 species
- Al Hoceima1 species
- Albufera de Valencia1 species
- Alonissos y Esporadas del Norte1 species
- Archipielago de Cabrera1 species
- Arcipelago Toscano1 species
- Arrábida1 species
- Asinara1 species
- Amorgos (pecio Le Grand Bleu)diving
- Bahía de Kotordiving
- Bodrum (pecio del avión)diving
- Cabo de Creusdiving
- Cabo de Gata-Níjardiving
- Cabo de Palosdiving
Did you know…
Its radular teeth, reinforced with goethite fibres, are the strongest biological material in tension ever measured, ahead of spider silk.
From Common Limpet
It practises homing: it wears a scar into the rock that matches the rim of its shell exactly, and always returns to the same spot after feeding.
From Common Limpet
By grazing it stops algae from colonising the rock, which shapes the whole intertidal community.
From Common Limpet
The hole at the apex is an outlet for water and waste: a one-way circulation system that keeps the gills from being fouled.
The mantle can fold back over the edge of the shell and partly cover it.
It is not a true limpet. Keyhole limpets have a hole at the apex of the shell through which they expel respiratory water and waste, so that intake and outflow are separate.