Shell · Genus
Littorina
Periwinkles
Periwinkles (Littorina) are the small, drab intertidal snails of temperate rocky shores, gathered as food in Britain and Ireland; Littorina littorea was introduced to North America in the 19th century. They are of little commercial value but are a standard teaching shell and a Holocene fossil in raised beaches.
| Habitat | Rocky intertidal, cool temperate coasts |
|---|---|
| Regions | North Atlantic, North Pacific, Europe, North America |
| Family | Littorinidae |
| Authority (WoRMS) | A. Férussac, 1822· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
| Status (WoRMS) | accepted· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
| Extinct (WoRMS) | no· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
| Classification (WoRMS) | Animalia › Mollusca › Gastropoda › Littorinimorpha › Littorinidae· WoRMS / MolluscaBase |
CITES and protection
Not CITES-listed; a food species in Europe.
Care (Byne's disease)
Stable.
Elsewhere
- WoRMS AphiaID: 138135
- Wikidata: Q83749
- WoRMS / MolluscaBase record
- Wikipedia: Littorina
- CITES Appendices
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Littorina" (Shell family). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/shells/littorina. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-littorina,
title = {Littorina},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/shells/littorina}},
year = {2026},
note = {Shell family article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, worms, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.