Crepidula fornicata
| Common slipper shell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A stack of Crepidula fornicata. The small one on the left is a male, the oval animal at the top left is a chiton. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Calyptraeoidea |
| Family: | Calyptraeidae |
| Genus: | Crepidula |
| Species: | C. fornicata |
| Binomial name | |
|
Crepidula fornicata (Linnaeus, 1758) |
|
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
The common slipper shell, Crepidula fornicata, has many other common names, including common Atlantic slippersnail, boat shell, quarterdeck shell, fornicating slipper snail, Atlantic Slipper Limpet and it is known in Britain as the "common slipper limpet". This is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Calyptraeidae, the slipper snails and cup and saucer snails.
The size of the shell is 20–50 mm. The maximum recorded shell length is 56 mm.
This sea snail has an arched, rounded shell. On the inside of the shell there is a white "deck", which causes the shell to resemble a boat or a slipper, hence the common names. There is variability in the shape of the shell: some shells are more arched than others.
Groups of individuals are often found heaped up and fastened together, with the larger, older females below and the smaller, younger males on top. As a heap grows, the males turn into females (making them sequential hermaphrodites).
The species is native to the western Atlantic Ocean, specifically the Eastern coast of North America. It has been introduced accidentally to other parts of the world and has become problematic.
Distribution of Crepidula fornicata ranges from 48°N to 25°N; 97.2°W to 25°W from as far north as Nova Scotia to as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.
It was introduced to the state of Washington. The species was, however, brought to Europe together with the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. In Belgium, the first slipper limpet was found on September 28, 1911, attached to an oyster in Ostend, and since the 1930s it is seen as a common species along Belgian coast.
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Wikipedia