{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | image = Discurria insessa.jpg | image_caption = ''Discurria insessa'' living on a [[Stipe (botany)|stipe]] of the [[Egregia menziesii|feather boa kelp]], in [[California]] | genus = Discurria | species = insessa | authority = ([[Richard Brinsley Hinds|Hinds]], 1842) | synonyms = ''Lottia insessa'' }}

'''''Discurria insessa''''', commonly named the '''seaweed limpet''', is a [[species]] of [[sea snail]], a true [[limpet]], a [[marine (ocean)|marine]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusc]] in the family [[Lottiidae]].

==Description== The size of the shell varies between 10&nbsp;mm and 38&nbsp;mm. The apex of the shell is located at the highest point of the shell and slightly forward at the center. The shape of the ''Discurria insessa'' are nearly oval or can be elongated with the right and left margins of the shell nearly parallel to the distance. The height of the limpet is about 3/4 width. The exterior of the shell is dark brown and usually smooth. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Discurria insessa |url=https://inverts.wallawalla.edu/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Patellogastropoda/Family_Lottiidae/DiscurriaInsessa.html |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=inverts.wallawalla.edu}}</ref>

{{Expand section|date=March 2016}}

==Distribution== This marine species occurs from South [[Alaska]] to the [[Baja California Peninsula]]. The geograpichal range of ''Disccuria inessa'' is Wranglell Island, Alaska, to [[Bahía Magdalena]], [[Baja California Sur]]. ''Disccuria inessa'' was abundant in North California but rare north in Oregon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Richard K. |title=Common Intertidal Invertebrates of Southern California. |publisher=Peek Publications |year=1976 |isbn=0-917962-10-9 |location=Palo, Alto, California |page=316}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carlton |first=James T. |title=The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Vertibrates in Central California to Oregon |publisher=Hardback, University of California Press. |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-520-23939-5 |edition=4th |location=California |page=1001 |language=English}}</ref>

==Ecology== ''Discurria insessa'' is believed to live only on ''[[Egregia menziesii]]'' (feather boa kelp). Young limpets seem to orient randomly on the [[Stipe (botany)|stipe]] but adults are almost always oriented longitudinally along the stipe. ''D. insessa'' feed both on [[epiphyte]]s and on the ''Egregia'' itself. ''D. insessa'' spawns mainly in spring and summer. There is high mortality during the winter—the largest individuals are usually not more than 1 year old. Larvae settle preferentially on large, crowded, post-reproductive ''Egregia'' and on fronds which already have adults. They grow fastest if they settle on scars made by older limpets. This species runs away quickly if it contacts a [[seastar]] such as ''[[Pisaster ochraceus]]''.<ref>[http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Patellogastropoda/Family_Lottiidae/DiscurriaInsessa.html Discurria insessa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122042139/http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Patellogastropoda/Family_Lottiidae/DiscurriaInsessa.html |date=2015-01-22 }} at [[Walla Walla University]]</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} * Nakano T. & Ozawa T. (2007). ''Worldwide phylogeography of limpets of the order Patellogastropoda: molecular, morphological and paleontological evidence''. Journal of Molluscan Studies 73(1): 79–99

==External links== * {{Gastropods.com|key=7|id=28137|title=''Discurria insessa''|access-date=16 January 2019}} [[File:Discurria insessa 2.jpg|left|thumb|''Discurria insessa'' grazing on the feather boa kelp ''[[Egregia menziesii]]''.|380px]]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q375802}}

[[Category:Lottiidae]] [[Category:Gastropods described in 1842]] [[Category:Taxa named by Richard Brinsley Hinds]]