This marine species occurs wherever brown seaweeds grow. It is widely distributed: the Baltic Sea, in European waters from Norway down to Southern Spain, in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean along the Gulf of Maine.
This species can be found in the littoral and sublittoral zone on rocky shores and piers, usually on brown algae of the genus Fucus. Minimum recorded depth is 0 m.[2] Maximum recorded depth is 110 m.[2] The habitat may define its color. On sheltered shores it has a lighter and uniform color (yellow, brown, orange or olive green). On exposed shores its color is darker and chequered.
References
Notes
^ a bLittorina obtusata (Linnaeus, 1758). Gofas, S. (2010). Littorina obtusata (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140263 on 6 June 2010 .
^ a b cWelch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
Bibliography
Backeljau, T. (1986). Lijst van de recente mariene mollusken van België [List of the recent marine molluscs of Belgium]. Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen: Brussels, Belgium. 106 pp
Reid, D.G. (1989a) The comparative morphology, phylogeny and evolution of the gastropod family Littorinidae. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 324: 1–110
Reid D.G. (1996). Systematics and evolution of Littorina. The Ray Society 463p
BODC (2009). Species list from the British Oceanographic Data Centre
External links
"Littorina (Littorina) obtusata obtusata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
Photos of Littorina obtusata on Sealife Collection
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Littorina obtusata.
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