Date: 10 May 2010 By Ginny P6

If you look very closely at

a type of seaweed called Blue Rayed Limpets are
different to Common
oarweed you might be lucky Limpets as they live on
seaweed not rocks.
enough to find the
They have not been
beautiful blue rayed studied a lot.
limpets.

Item Description
Common Name Blue Rayed Limpet
Biological Name Helcion pellucidium (Linnaeus)
Description A Blue Rayed Limpet is a Mollusc.

Molluscs have:
• a soft body.
• an external shell to protect it

(The body of molluscs are all different but they normally have a head with
eyes, tentacles, a muscle foot and a body containing organs).

What does it eat • Lives on and eats a seaweed called Oarweed. (Oarweed is a large
brown seaweed which can grow up to 4m long. It is also called
tangleweed).
• There are 2 different appearances/types depending on the age of the
Blue Rayed Limpet and where it feeds on the seaweed (leaves or
root).
Appearance 1. The frond limpet is a transparent shell covered in bright blue, broken
lines.
2. The shells of the holdfast limpets are brown with less noticeable, blue
lines and reddish brown lines as well.
Size Up to 2 cm in length
Shape Oval-shaped shell
Habitat Found on rocky shores.
How do it breathe? Limpets breathe with gills located in their shell (mantle cavity).
How does it feed? Limpets feed by using their scraping tongue called a radula.
How does it sleep? Limpets are active at high time and sleep at low tide after they have
anchored themselves to rocks. Blue Rayed Limpets are different as they
live on the seaweed not rocks. They have not been studied a lot. They
probably have rest/sleep times when they don’t eat for a few hours
What eats it? Common limpets are eaten by
Reproduction • The female limpets lay their eggs.
• Male limpets fertilize the eggs.
Life Cycle • The eggs are carried away by the currents.
• The eggs hatches and is joined to plankton.
• At this stage, the larva is feeding on microscopic algae.
• Later on in the year the larvae settle on the oarweed and mature into
adult limpets.
• The limpet migrates down to the oarweed holdfast when it grows older;
its shell becomes thicker and the colours fade.
 -2-

BLUE RAYED LIMPETS

TWO
DIFFERENT
TYPES

The frond limpet is a

transparent shell covered in The shells of the holdfast limpets are
bright blue, broken lines. brown with less noticeable, blue lines
and reddish brown lines as well.

Blue rayed limpets live on a kind of seaweed

called oarweed, and slowly chew their way
into seaweed.

This is a diagram of a type of seaweed called

Oarweed.