Creature Feature Encyclopedia: Gastropoda

Rough Keyhole Limpet Diodora aspera

Limpets are shelled animals that live in intertidal zones of many temperate rocky coasts. During high tide, they move about underwater to feed on algae. During low tide, however, they are left exposed to air and are in danger of desiccation, which means drying up. Although some organisms in the intertidal zone can survive more than 50 percent desiccation, limpets protect themselves by carving out small hollows, or scars, that match the shape of their shells. As the tide goes out, the limpets fit themselves into their scars, trapping precious water inside their shells.

~A Swim through the Sea © 1994