About Patella ulyssiponensis Gmelin, 1791
Patella ulyssiponensis, commonly called the rough limpet or China limpet, is a species of sea snail. It is a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk that belongs to Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. Contrary to what its common name "China limpet" suggests, this species is not found in China; it occurs throughout the Eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Compared to the common limpet, Patella vulgata, the rough limpet has a similar shell with a maximum size of 50 mm long, 40 mm wide, and 20 mm high. Its shell apex sits closer to the anterior (front) of the animal than the posterior (back). What sets the rough limpet apart is its finer radiating shell ridges, which follow a distinct alternating pattern of one ridge paired with three ridges around the circumference of the shell. The interior of the rough limpet's shell is often tinted orange near the apex. Its foot is cream-orange, and its dozens of pallial tentacles are translucent and colorless, arranged in two rows of different sizes. Aside from these features, Patella ulyssiponensis is identical to Patella vulgata, with no other differences in body structure or shell morphology.
The full distribution of Patella ulyssiponensis spans the European Atlantic area north to the North Sea, and it also occurs throughout the Mediterranean. On Madeira Island, Portugal, this species is known locally as Lapa, and it is eaten after being cooked in a pan with garlic and lemon juice.
