Ferreous Limpet
(Patella Ferruginea )

Better known as the Patella ferruginosa or rusty limpet, it is a marine gastropod mollusk endemic to the Western Mediterranean. It belongs to the family Patellidae and is therefore a limpet.

They live on rocky substrates in the intertidal lines, preferably with slope and medium swell.

They can live up to 30 years. They adhere to the rock to prevent desiccation by forming a halo of calcareous algae on the edge of the shell that forms a footprint. 

Adults move around only to feed, generally on algae and bacteria found on the surface of the rock, and at night at high tide. Once fed, they return to the same resting place.

It is a hermaphrodite species that can change sex several times and whose reproduction occurs in autumn.

The females are the largest.

We will recognize it by its striking radial ribs and if we do so we will respect its habitat since it is the only marine invertebrate catalogued in Spain in danger of extinction.

It is therefore PROHIBITED TO BE COLLECTED.

It is currently limited to North Africa, some parts of southern Spain, including Almeria, the coasts of Corsica and Sardinia and the island of Pantelleria.