North Atlantic Register of Marine Species (NARMS)

NARMS taxon details

Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758)

AphiaID

140262 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:140262)

Classification

Status

accepted

Rank

Species

Parent

Littorina A. Férussac, 1822

Original name

Turbo littoreus Linnaeus, 1758

Synonymised names

Littorina armoricana Locard, 1886 · unaccepted

Littorina litorea [sic] · unaccepted > misspelling - incorrect subsequent spelling (of Littorina littorea (Linnaeus,...)

of Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758)

Littorina litorea var. brevicula Jeffreys, 1865 · unaccepted

Littorina parva Teilman-Friis, 1898 · unaccepted

Littorina sphaeroidalis Locard, 1886 · unaccepted

Littorina vulgaris J. Sowerby, 1832 · unaccepted

Turbo littoreus Linnaeus, 1758 · unaccepted (original combination)

Turbo ustulatus Lamarck, 1822 · unaccepted

Environment

marine, ~~brackish~~, ~~fresh~~, ~~terrestrial~~

Fossil range

recent + fossil

Original description

(of Turbo littoreus Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 761 [details] Available for editors

Taxonomic citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvanitidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2025) European Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marbef.org/data/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140262 on 2026-09-06

Regional species database citation

Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvanitidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2026). European Register of Marine Species. Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed at: https://vliz.be/vmdcdata/narms/narms.php?p=taxdetails&id=140262 on 2026-09-06

Taxonomic edit history

Date

action

2004-12-21 15:54:05Z

created

Gofas, Serge

2010-01-07 10:29:10Z

changed

Reid, David G.

2022-09-11 08:02:20Z

changed

Vinarski, Maxim

[taxonomic tree] [clear cache]

original description (of Littorina litorea var. brevicula Jeffreys, 1865) Jeffreys, J. G. (1862-1869). British conchology. Vol. 1: pp. cxiv + 341 [1862]. Vol. 2: pp. 479 [1864]. Vol. 3: pp. 394 [1865]. Vol. 4: pp. 487 [1867]. Vol. 5: pp. 259 [1869]. London, van Voorst. , available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55187
page(s): 369 [details]

original description (of Turbo ustulatus Lamarck, 1822) Lamarck, [J.-B. M.] de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième, 711 pp. Paris, published by the author. , available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47433
page(s): 48 [details]

original description (of Turbo littoreus Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 761 [details] Available for editors

original description (of Littorina armoricana Locard, 1886) Locard, A. (1886). Prodrome de malacologie française. Catalogue général des mollusques vivants de France. Mollusques marins. Lyon: H. Georg & Paris: Baillière. x + 778 pp. , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10831012
page(s): 285, 580 [details]

original description (of Littorina sphaeroidalis Locard, 1886) Locard, A. (1886). Prodrome de malacologie française. Catalogue général des mollusques vivants de France. Mollusques marins. Lyon: H. Georg & Paris: Baillière. x + 778 pp. , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10831012
page(s): 285-286, 580 [details]

original description (of Littorina vulgaris J. Sowerby, 1832) Sowerby I, G. B. (1821-1834). The genera of recent and fossil shells, for the use of students, in conchology and geology. Published in 42 parts. Vol. 1, pls 1-126 [1821-1825]; vol. 2, pls 127-262 + text (unpaginated) [1825-1834]. London: G. B. Sowerby. , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45486673 [details]

original description (of Littorina parva Teilman-Friis, 1898) Teilmann-Friis A. (1898). Smaa Bidrag til Artsbestemmelserne indefor Slaegterne Littorina og Hydrobia. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den Naturhistoriske Forening i Kjøbenhavn 1897: 211-215
page(s): 211-213, fig. 1b [details]

context source (RAS) Australian Antarctic Data Centre. , available online at https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/biodiversity/ [details]

context source (Introduced species) Molnar, J.L., R.L. Gamboa, C. Revenga & M.D. Spalding. (2008). Assessing the global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 6(9): 485-492., available online at https://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationPractices/Marine/Pages/marineinvasives.aspx [details] Available for editors

context source (Schelde) van Eck, G. Th. M.; Holzhauer, H. (2007). Monitoring van de effecten van de verruiming 48'/43': MOVE eindrapport 2006 (Rapport 10). Rapport RIKZ = Report RIKZ, 2007.003. RIKZ: Middelburg. 64 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details]

basis of record Reid, D. G. (1996). Systematics and evolution of Littorina. The Ray Society. 463p. [details]

additional source Alexander, R. C. (1947). Littorina littorea in New Jersey. The Nautilus. 61(2): 71., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8284771 [details]

additional source Alexander, R. C. (1947). Littorina littorea on the New Jersey coast. The Nautilus. 60(3): 73-76., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8523756 [details]

additional source Clarke, A. H., Jr. (1963). Supplementary notes on Pre-Colombian Littorina littorea in Nova Scotia. The Nautilus. 77(1): 8-11., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8520305 [details]

additional source Clench, W. J. (1930). Littorina littorea Linn. The Nautilus. 43(3): 105., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8515159 [details]

additional source Davis, D. S. (1972). An unusual form of Littorina littorea Linné found in Nova Scotia. The Nautilus. 86(2-4): 87., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8511600 [details]

additional source Dexter, R. W. (1961). Early records of Littorina littorea from the coast of Massachusetts. The Nautilus. 74(3): 120-121., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8524001 [details]

additional source Dudley, R. (1980). Crab-crushing of periwinkle shells, Littorina littorea, from two adjacent geographical provinces. The Nautilus. 94(3): 108-112., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8274614 [details]

additional source Latchford, F. R. (1915). Littorina littorea a fish. The Nautilus. 29(8): 96., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1815895 [details]

additional source Reid, D. G. (1989). The comparative morphology, phylogeny and evolution of the gastropod family Littorinidae. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 324: 1-110., available online at https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.1989.0040 [details] Available for editors

additional source Woodbridge, R. G., III. (1976). Tentacle-branching in the periwinkle, Littorina littorea. The Nautilus. 90(1): 52-54, figs. 1-10., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8276410 [details]

biology source Tepolt, C. K. (2014). Adaptation in marine invasion: a genetic perspective. Biological Invasions. 17(3): 887-903., available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0825-8
note: Here, I review evidence for adaptation in marine invasion, considering both quantitative and genetic studies. [details] Available for editors

Present

Inaccurate

Introduced: alien

Containing type locality

Definitions

Language	Name
Dutch	gewone alikruikalikruik	[details]
English	periwinklecommon periwinkle	[details]
French	vignotlittorine communcaracolebigorneau	[details]
German	gemeine Uferschneckegemeine Strandschnecke	[details]