Littoraria scabra

Littoraria scabra, known by its common name mangrove periwinkle, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.^[1]

Littoraria scabra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Littorinidae
Genus:	Littoraria
Species:	L. scabra
Binomial name
Littoraria scabra (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]
Buccinulum (Evarnula) multilineum Powell, A.W.B., 1929 Buccinum foliorum Gmelin, 1791 Buccinum lineatum Gmelin, 1791 Helix scabra Linnaeus, 1758 Litorina scabra var. punctata Philippi, 1847 Litorina scabra var. rubra Philippi, 1847 Littorina novaehiberniae Lesson, 1831 Littorina pallescens var. erronea Nevill, 1885 Littorina scabra (Linnaeus, 1758) Littorina scabra tenuis Nevill, 1885 Melarhaphe scabra (Linnaeus, 1758) Turbo striatus Linnaeus, C. in Schumacher, H.C.F., 1838

Distribution and habitat

This species is distributed in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Chagos, South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, the Seychelles and Tanzania; in the Pacific Ocean along Hawaii and New Zealand.^[2] These snails live on rocky shores and on the mangroves.^[3]

A shell of Littoraria scabra

Description

The size of an adult shell of Littoraria scabra varies between 15 mm and 40 mm.^[2] These shells are ovate-conical, without an umbilicus. The outer surface shows a spiral sculpture without nodules, with a pattern of irregular dark stripes.^[4] As in other bark-living snail species the shell color is brown. The mouth is rounded and the radula quite long, in order to adapt to the surface or the bark.^[5]

Biology

These snails are grazers on the roots, trunks, branches, and leaves of their host plants where they feed on zooplankton, bacteria, algae and mangrove tissues. These generalist herbivores daily vertically migrate along mangrove trees to avoid tidal submersion.^[6]