Lottia pelta

{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | image = Lottia pelta 01.JPG | image_caption = | taxon = Lottia pelta | authority = ([[Martin Rathke|Rathke]], 1833) | synonyms = * ''Acmaea (Collisella) pelta'' (Rathke, 1833) (unaccepted combination) * ''Acmaea cassis pelta'' Rathke, 1833 (unaccepted rank) * ''Acmaea pelta'' Rathke, 1833 (original combination) * ''Collisella (Collisella) pelta'' (Rathke, 1833) * ''Collisella pelta'' Eschscholtz, 1833 * ''Patella (Acmaea) pelta'' (Rathke, 1833) (unaccepted combination) * ''Patelloida cassis pelta'' (Rathke, 1833) (unaccepted combination) }}

'''''Lottia pelta''''', [[common name]] the '''shield limpet''', is a [[species]] of [[sea snail]], a true [[limpet]], a [[marine (ocean)|marine]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusk]] in the family [[Lottiidae]].<ref name="WoRMS">{{WRMS species|456602|''Lottia pelta'' (Rathke, 1833)|23 February 2026}}</ref>

It is still designated under its synonym ''Collisella pelta'' (Eschscholtz, 1833) in many textbooks.

==Distribution== The shield limpet is found in the [[intertidal zone]] on rocks and [[kelp]] holdfast from [[Alaska]] to [[Baja California]]. The largest specimens occur in the northern part of the range.<ref>{{cite web | title = Lottia pelta | url = https://inverts.wallawalla.edu/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Patellogastropoda/Family_Lottiidae/Lottia_pelta.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com | website = Invertebrates of the Salish Sea | publisher = Walla Walla University | access-date = 22 February 2026 }}</ref>

== Description== This shell of this species grows to a width of between {{convert|2.5-5.4|cm|abbr=on}} on a broadly elliptical to oval base. It is only moderately elevated. The apex is tilted toward the front end and the sides of the shell are slightly convex. The color of the shell is grayish with irregular, radial stripes. When ''Lottia pelta'' moves among substrata the [[morphology (biology)|morphology]] and the color of its shell changes. The [[Ontogeny|ontogenetic record]] of its past habitats is preserved in the shell structure. The species found on kelp holdfasts have darker shells with obscure ribbing.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Sorensen F. E. |author2=[[David R. Lindberg|Lindberg D. R.]] |title=Preferential predation by American black oystercatchers on transitional ecophenotypes of the limpet ''Lottia pelta'' (Rathke) |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology]] |date=1991 |volume=154 |issue=1 |pages=123–136 |doi=10.1016/0022-0981(91)90078-B }}</ref>

The sculpture of the shell is smooth or with irregular, fine radial riblets. Occasionally they become heavy ribs.

The interior of the shell has about the same color as the exterior. There is a dark brown central spot. The base of the interior is marked by alternating dark and light spots.

The species are dominant [[littoral]] [[herbivores]], and consume a variety of microscopic and large algae.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Abbott | first1 = Donald P. | last2 = Haderlie | first2 = Eugene C. | editor1 = Morris, R. H. | editor2 = Abbott, D. P. | editor3 = Haderlie, E. C. | year = 1980 | chapter = Prosobranchia: Marine Snails | pages = 230–307 | title = Intertidal Invertebrates of California | publisher = Stanford University Press | location = Stanford, California, US | isbn = 0-8047-1045-7 }}</ref> They are vulnerable to [[wiktionary:hyposalinity|hyposalinity]] stress,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coyle |first1=Theraesa |last2=Emry |first2=Sandra |last3=Kordas |first3=Rebecca L. |last4=Harley |first4=Christopher D. G. |title=Salinity controls rocky intertidal community structure via suppression of herbivory |journal=Ecology |date=2025-12-08 |doi=10.1002/ecy.70271 |editor=Alison M. Derry }}</ref> and have a role in resisting warming related changes to [[intertidal]] [[ecosystem]] composition.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kordas | first1 = Rebecca L. | last2 = Donohue | first2 = Ian | last3 = Harley | first3 = Christopher D. G. | title = Herbivory enables marine communities to resist warming | journal = Science Advances | volume = 3 | issue = 10 | article-number = e1701349 | date = 2017-10-11 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.1701349 }}</ref>

One of its [[predator]]s is ''[[Ocenebra lurida]]'' (Middendorff, 1849), a [[Muricidae|murex]] snail.

<gallery> Collisella pelta.jpg File:Lottia pelta 001.jpg File:Lottia pelta 003.jpg|apical view File:Lottia pelta 002.jpg|basal viewing File:Shield Limpets on Stapleton Island.jpg|in-situ </gallery>

==Lifecycle== Shield Limpets reproduce by seasonal [[Spawning#Open_substrate_spawner|broadcast spawning]], males and females releasing [[gametes]] into the water column where external fertilization occurs. The fertilized eggs develop into free-swimming [[trochophore]] [[larvae]] and then into [[planktonic]] [[veliger]] larvae, which disperse for days to weeks in coastal waters. When development is complete, the larvae settle onto suitable rocky [[intertidal]] substrates and undergo [[metamorphosis]] into [[benthic]] juveniles. The young limpets begin grazing on [[microalgae]], grow into conical-shelled adults, and typically establish a home scar (a preferred resting site) to which they return after feeding. Adults spawn after reaching sexual maturity, completing the life cycle.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hadfield |first1=Michael G. |last2=Strathmann |first2=Megumi F. |title=Variability, flexibility and plasticity in life histories of marine invertebrates |journal=Oceanologica Acta |volume=19 |issue=3–4 |year=1996 |pages=323–334 |url=https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00094/20490/18160.pdf }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite book | last1 = Turgeon | first1 = D. | last2 = Quinn | first2 = J. F. | last3 = Bogan | first3 = A. E. | last4 = Coan | first4 = E. V. | last5 = Hochberg | first5 = F. G. | last6 = Lyons | first6 = W. G. | last7 = Mikkelsen | first7 = P. M. | last8 = Neves | first8 = R. J. | last9 = Roper | first9 = C. F. E. | last10 = Rosenberg | first10 = G. | last11 = Roth | first11 = B. | last12 = Scheltema | first12 = A. | last13 = Thompson | first13 = F. G. | last14 = Vecchione | first14 = M. | last15 = Williams | first15 = J. D. | title = Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: mollusks | edition = 2nd | series = American Fisheries Society Special Publication | volume = 26 | publisher = American Fisheries Society | location = Bethesda, MD | year = 1998 | isbn = 1-888569-01-8 | pages = IX, 526 + cd-rom | doi = 10.47886/9781888569018 | url = https://archive.org/details/commonscientific0000unse_t5k1 | access-date = 2026-02-24 }} * {{cite book |last1=Rathke |first1=H. |title=Zoologischer Atlas, enthaltend Abbildungen und Beschreibungen neuer Thierarten, während des flottcapitains v. Kotzebue zweiter reise un die welt, auf der russisch-kaiserlichen kriegsschlupp Predpriaetië in den jahren 1823-1826. |date=1833 |publisher=G. Reimer. |location=Berlin |page=19 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56520113}}ie * {{cite journal|last1=Habe|first1=T.|last2=Ito|first2=K.|title=New genera and species of shells chiefly collected from the North Pacific|journal=Venus|volume=24|issue=1|year=1965|pages=16–45|doi=10.18941/venusjjm.24.1_16}} * {{cite journal |last1=Nakano T. & Ozawa T |title=Worldwide phylogeography of limpets of the order Patellogastropoda: molecular, morphological and paleontological evidence. |journal=Journal of Molluscan Studies |date=2007 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=79-99 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eym001}} * {{cite journal |last1=Gulbin, V. V.; Chaban, E. M |title=Annotated list of shell-bearing gastropods of Commander Islands. Part I. |journal=The Bulletin of the Russian Far East Malacological Society |date=2012 |volume=15-16 |url=http://rfems.dvo.ru/images/rfems/bulletin/vol_015_016/article_01.pdf}}

[[Category:Lottiidae]] [[Category:Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean]] [[Category:Taxa named by Martin Rathke]] [[Category:Gastropods described in 1833]]