BIOTIC

BIOTIC Species Information for Littorina littorea
All Taxonomy Biology Distribution Reproduction

Researched by	Angus Jackson	Data supplied by	MarLIN
Refereed by	Dr David Reid
General Biology
Growth form	Turbinate	Feeding method	Herbivore
Mobility/Movement	Crawler	Environmental position	Epifaunal
Typical food types	A range of fine green, brown and red algae, including Ulva lactuca, Ulva spp., Cladophora spp. and Ectocarpus spp.	Habit	Free living
Bioturbator	Not relevant	Flexibility	None (< 10 degrees)
Fragility	Robust	Size	Small-medium(3-10cm)
Height	Insufficient information	Growth Rate	0.065-0.097 mm/day
Adult dispersal potential	100-1000m	Dependency	Independent
Sociability	Gregarious
Toxic/Poisonous?	No
General Biology Additional Information	Size and growth rate measurements apply to shell height. Most work suggests that maturity is reached at between 10-12mm shell height. Littorina littorea has various biochemical adaptations that allow the stressful intertidal habitat to be exploited. The species tends to aggregate and form clusters in areas that are more favourable for them, such as rock pools, rather than drier areas. Males are believed to mature earlier than females but females mature at a smaller size. Animals are more active when submerged due to the lower cost of moving on mucus when under water.
Biology References	Hayward et al., 1996, Campbell, 1994, Hayward & Ryland, 1995b, Fish & Fish, 1996, Newell, 1958, Fish, 1972, Fretter & Graham, 1994, Erlandsson & Johannesson, 1992, Rutherford, Web pages, Fox, 1994(b), Davies & Beckwith, 1999, Yamada, 1987, Gardner & Thomas, 1987, Erlandsson & Kostylev, 1995,