Spotted Limpet
Cayenne Keyhole Limpet
Common Atlantic Slipper Snail
Spotted Slipper Snail
Spiny Slipper Snail
True Limpets
(Order) Patellogastropoda
Distinguishing Characteristics: The True Limpets have a simple flattened conical shell without whorls or spire.
Habitat: These snails prefer intertidal rocky shores.
Diet: This order grazes on algae that grows on rocks.
Scientific Name: Eoacmaea pustulata
Common Name: Spotted Limpet
Distinguishing Characteristics: Thick shell with coarse ribs, crisscrossed to form a netlike top. Shell is flecked with red dots, which give the species its common name. Maximum size 1 inch.
Keyhole Limpets
(Family) Fissurellidae
Distinguishing Characteristics: The Keyhole Limpets have a simple flattened conical shell without whorls or spire. There is a hole at the top of the shell which gives the family its common name.
Habitat: These snails prefer to live on hard bottoms and in seagrass beds in intertidal waters.
Diet: This family grazes on algae that grows on rocks.
Interesting Facts: The hole at the top of the shell is actually the keyhole limpet's anus.
Scientific Name: Diodora cayenensis
Common Name: Cayenne Keyhole Limpet
Distinguishing Characteristics: The keyhole is off-center when viewed from above. There is a raised callous around the keyhole on the interior of the shell. Shell is covered with irregular rib-like ridges. Maximum size 1.5 inches.
Slipper Snails
(Family) Calyptraeidae
Distinguishing Characteristics: The Slipper Snails have a shell resembling that of a clam, but with no bottom half of a shell like a bivalve. There is no spire. The underside of the shell has a distinctive shelf-like platform sometimes called a "septum". The shelf makes the underside resemble a slipper, giving the family its name.
Habitat: These snails prefer to live on rocky bottoms. They may often be found inside of other shells.
Diet: This family are suspension feeders that feed upon plankton in the water column.
Interesting Facts: Slipper snails can often be found settling on top of each other, forming small towers of snails.
Scientific Name: Crepidula fornicata
Common Name: Common Atlantic Slipper Shell
Distinguishing Characteristics: Shell a long oval with a very large interior shelf. Shell is asymmetrical, with the top of the shell curving to a side. Shell is cream with brown or tan speckles and long uninterrupted brown lines. Maximum size 1.5 inches.
Interesting Facts: Common names include Common Atlantic Slippersnail, Boat Shell, Quarterdeck Shell, Fornicating Slipper Snail, Atlantic Slipper Limpet, Oysterpest, American Slipper-Limpet, and the Common Slipper Limpet.
Scientific Name: Crepidula maculosa
Common Name: Spotted Slipper Snail
Distinguishing Characteristics: Shell cream to gray, spotted with reddish brown. Muscle scars visible under the right edge of the shelf. Top of the shell centered. Maximum size around 1.5 inches.
Scientific Name: Bostrycapulus aculeatus
Common Name: Spiny Slipper Shell
Distinguishing Characteristics: Heavily sculptured reddish-orange shell, covered with spines in spiralling rows. The shell is asymmetrical, with the top of the shell curving to a side. Maximum size 1 inch.