Cellana radians

Taxobox
name = "Cellana radians"


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Patellogastropoda
subordo = Patellina
superfamilia = Patelloidea
familia = Patellidae
genus = "Cellana"
species = "C. radians"
binomial = "Cellana radians"
binomial_authority = (Gmelin, 1791)
synonyms = "Patella radians" Gmelin, 1791
"Patella argentea" Quoy and Gaimard, 1834
"Patella earlii" Reeve, 1855
"Helcioniscus radians" Suter, 1913

"Cellana radians", or the golden limpet, is a species of true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Nacellidae, which is one of the true limpet families.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.

Habitat

This limpet is very common in the intertidal zone.

hell description

The shell is very variable in height, position of the nucleus, and in coloration. Normally the sculpture consists of 20 to 25 smooth, rounded, low primary radial ribs, and one or more weaker radials in each interspace.

The coloration of the exterior of the shell is greenish-grey, with the primary ribs irregularly picked out in dark brown, and often, especially in young examples, there are lateral connecting maculations between the ribs. The interior is yellowish-buff or silvery-grey, with the dark rays showing through, and with a fairly well defined light brownish muscle attachment mark on the underside of the shell, often clouded with a white callus.

The maximum shell length is 54 mm, width 46 mm, and height 22 mm.

References

* Powell A. W. B., William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1