Scutellastra cochlear | |
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Pear limpets surrounded by coralline algae Spongites yendoi | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Patellogastropoda |
Family: | Patellidae |
Genus: | Scutellastra |
Species: | S. cochlear
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Binomial name | |
Scutellastra cochlear | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Scutellastra cochlear is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is commonly known as the snail patella, the pear limpet or the spoon limpet and is native to South Africa. It often grows in association with the crustose coralline alga Spongites yendoi and a filamentous red alga which it cultivates in a garden. It was first described by the malacologist Ignaz von Born in 1778 as Patella cochlear.