Lottia gigantea, Owl limpet
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Lottia gigantea   Sowerby, 1834

Owl limpet

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Lottia gigantea  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Lottia gigantea (Owl limpet)
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drawing shows typical species in Lottiidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Gastropoda | Not assigned | Lottiidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic.  Subtropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Eastern Central Pacific: USA to Mexico.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cmCommon length : 10.0 cm SHL male/unsexed; (Ref. 312)

Short description Morphology

Light brown shell with whitish checks on the edge of the shell. The brown areas are slightly higher than the white spots. The peak of the shell is near the anterior margin. It has a brownish, bluish discoloration on the inside of the empty shell resembles the outline of an owl (Ref. 312).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

It has a shell length of 10 cm (Ref. 312). Occurs on bare areas of rocks in the high to middle intertidal zones. Herbivorous, scrapes diatoms and algae off the rocky surface with their radula. Exhibits territorial behavior. Large animals are females and tend to 'farm' particular rock faces. If another limpet trespasses on this territory, female attacks by inserting its shell margin underneath the edge of the invader's shell and pries the invader off the rock. The smaller males are not territorial. When males reach a critical size they transform into females and begin farming (Ref. 312).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the order Patellogastropoda are mostly gonochoric and broadcast spawners. Life cycle: Embryos develop into planktonic trocophore larvae and later into juvenile veligers before becoming fully grown adults.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gallivan, G. and J. Danforth 1999 Phylum Mollusca. Marine Science Institute. Http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:EEiLeA0OeAMJ:www2.ucsc.edu/simp/guide.pdf+Nuttalina+californica&hl=tl&gl=ph&ct=clnk&cd=8 [accessed 20/01/06] (Ref. 312)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses


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Trophic Ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Physiology
Oxygen consumption
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 12.2 - 22.3, mean 17.1 (based on 80 cells).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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