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Common Limpet | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Common Limpet

Patella vulgata

GastropodaExposed and sheltered rocky shores in the intertidal zone

Field profile

The common limpet is a conical-shelled marine gastropod that clamps to intertidal rock. It grazes algae with a radula and returns to a fixed resting spot between feeding excursions. Shells typically reach three to six centimetres across.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-08-24

Common Limpet

Limpet teeth are the strongest known biological material

The tiny teeth on a limpet's rasping tongue are reinforced with goethite nanofibres and reach tensile strengths of roughly three to six and a half gigapascals, exceeding spider silk and matching high-performance engineered fibres.

Read with evidence →