Common_periwinkle

Common periwinkle
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Superorder: Caenogastropoda Order: Sorbeoconcha Suborder: Hypsogastropoda Infraorder: Littorinimorpha Superfamily: Littorinoidea Family: Littorinidae Genus: Littorina Species: Littorina littorea
Binomial name
Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758)

The common periwinkle, or the winkle, Littorina littorea, is a species of small edible sea snail with an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Littorinidae, the winkles.

Distribution

This species lives on the northeastern and northwestern shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

Habitat

Periwinkle emerging from its shell.

The common periwinkle is mainly found on rocky coasts in the higher intertidal zone. It sometimes lives in small tide pools ranging from 1 to 2 m or about 3 to 6 feet in size. It is also found in muddy habitats such as estuaries.

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, or to pick up algae from the film that covers the surface of mud in estuaries or bays.

Human use

Edible or common periwinkles have long been gathered from the shore for food.

Periwinkles are a delicacy in African and Asian cuisine. The meat is high in protein but low in fat content; it is estimated to have 15% protein, 2.4% fat and about 80% water. Periwinkles are also eaten in Britain and Ireland where they are commonly simply referred to as "winkles." North East of england referred to as "Willicks"

A cluster of common periwinkles

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.

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.

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Littorina littorea

References

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

External links

• Much information
• British Isles
• Anatomy
• Nutritional value

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia