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rocky shore

Limpets of Chek Jawa Two groups of snails on Chek Jawa have umbrella-shaped shell. They come from quite separate groups and are not closely related. One group of limpets breathe through gills. True limpets (Family Patellidae and Acmaeidae) do not have holes in their shells. The Family Fissurellidae includes the Keyhole limpets. These have two feathery gills and a hole at the tip of their conical shells. Water is sucked in from under the shell, passes over the gills, then expelled out of the hole in the shell. Another member of the Family Fissurellidae are the Shield-limpets (Scutus sp.). Their bodies are a lot larger than their shell. In fact, the shell might be completely covered by their mantle, making them appear to be slugs. These limpets are commonly found under rocks at Chek Jawa. Another group of limpets have lungs and breathe air. False limpets (Family Siphonariidae) belong to this group and are closely related to land snails and to sea slugs (Family Onchididae). Because they can breathe air, false limpets are often found higher up on the rocks than limpets that breathe through gills. They lay jelly-like egg masses on the rocks. Human uses: Large limpets are eaten in some parts of the world.		Star limpet False limpet Shield limpet Keyhole limpet?

quick facts
About 1-2cm, common on and under rocks.

Classification:
Class Gastropoda
Phylum Mollusca

See also ...
Molluscs in general
Gastropods in general
Limpets in general

Other references

Barnes, Robert D. & Ruppert, Edward E., 1996. Invertebrate Zoology. Harcourt College Publishers. 6th Edition. pp. 1056, G-1-16, I-1-30.
Pechenik, Jan A., 2000. Biology of the Invertebrates. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Singapore. 578 pp.
Woodward, Fred, 1993. Identifying Shells. The Apple Press, London. 80 pp.
Harasewych, M.G., 1991 edition. Shells: Jewels from the Sea. Courage Books, USA. 224 pp.
Tan, Leo W. H. & Ng, Peter K. L., 1988. A Guide to Seashore Life. The Singapore Science Centre, Singapore. 160 pp. online version of false limpets and true limpets
Lim, S., P. Ng, L. Tan, & W. Y. Chin, 1994. Rhythm of the Sea: The Life and Times of Labrador Beach. Division of Biology, School of Science, Nanyang Technological University & Department of Zoology, the National University of Singapore. 160 pp.
Davey, Keith, 1998. A Photographic Guide to Seashore Life of Australia. New Holland, Australia.144 pp.
Abbot, Tucker R., 1991. Seashells of South East Asia. Graham Brash, Singapore. 145 pp.
Debelius, Helmut, 2001 3rd ed. Nudibranchs and Sea Snails: Indo-Pacific Guide. IKAN-Unterwasserachiv, Germany. 320 pp.

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