Common periwinkle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Common periwinkle | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| molluscs |
| abalone |
| clams |
| cockles |
| periwinkle |
| mussels |
| oysters |
| scallops |
| whelk |
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| cuttlefish |
| octopus |
| squid |
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| fishing industry |
| fisheries |
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The common periwinkle, or the winkle, Littorina littorea, is a species of small sea snail with an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Littorinidae, the winkles.
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[edit] Distribution
This species lives on the northeastern and northwestern shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
[edit] Habitat
The common periwinkle is mainly found on rocky coasts in the higher intertidal zone. It sometimes lives in small tide pools ranging from one to two m or about three to six feet in characteristic size. It is also found in muddy habitats such as estuaries. They are situated on the splash zone/the extreme high tide mark.
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[edit] Life habits
Like almost all snails, the periwinkle crawls using a muscular, fleshy foot which is lubricated by a film of mucus. When not active, it often nestles in a crack or gully. During low tide when it is exposed to the air, it can seal the gap between its shell and the rock with mucus to prevent desiccation. When loosened from the substrate it can effectively seal its shell against desiccation or predation using its operculum.
Periwinkles feed by grazing along the surface on which they live. They use their radula to scrape algae from rocks, and in the salt marsh community, cord grass or to pick up algae from the film that covers the surface of mud in estuaries or bays.
[edit] Human use
Edible or common periwinkles have long been gathered from the shore for food. The are eaten in Britain and Ireland where they are commonly referred to as "winkles" (or in some areas "willicks" or "wilks"). Periwinkles are a delicacy in African and Asian cuisine.
The meat is high in protein but low in fat content; according to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, raw snails in general are about 80% water, 15% protein, and 1.4% fat.
[edit] Other periwinkles or winkles
World-wide there are numerous species of periwinkle, all of which live in the intertidal zone. Some species live very high up in the splash zone, a part of the shore that is dry almost all of the time, and these species are virtually land snails.
[edit] Other snails commonly called winkles
In English-speaking countries in other parts of the world, gastropod molluscs from other families, such as the Nerites, Neritidae, are sometimes also commonly known as "winkles", simply because they are small marine snails that occupy a similar ecological niche.
[edit] References
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This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
[edit] Books
- Abbott, R. Tucker, 1974. American Seashells. Second edition. Van Nostrand Rheinhold, New York
- Abbott, R. Tucker, 1986. Seashells of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York
[edit] External links
- Littorina littorea (mollusc) from the Invasive Species Specialist Group website of the World Conservation Union
- Common periwinkle from the Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland
- Anatomy of the Periwinkle from a Lander Univesity website
