Relevant Synonyms Siphonaria kurracheensis Reeve, 1856 Siphonaria savignyi Krauss, 1848 Misidentification Siphonaria sipho Sowerby, 1824 [Tillier and Bavay, 1905] Siphonaria laciniosa (Linné, 1758) [Moazzo, 1939] Siphonaria belcheri Hanley, 1858 [Albayrak and Çeviker, 2001]  drawing: Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Limpetlike shell, small, solid, flattened, low conical. Sculpture of strong, unequal radial ribs projecting on the edge; a stronger rib corresponds to an internal furrow on the right edge. color : inside brownish, beige and cream. common size : 25 mm (max.). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS This must not be confused with the true limpets (genus Patella) which lack the inner furrow (and interruption of the muscle scar) on the right side, and are not even closely related. The native Eastern Atlantic species Siphonaria pectinata (Linné, 1758) is found in the warmer parts of the Western Mediterranean, Alboran Sea and Algeria; it is distinguished by its sculpture of fine ribs, of light color contrasting with the intervals, and nearly black color inside. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Direct larval development (Thorson, 1940). Members of the family are pulmonates, which means that their pallial cavity functions as a lung and that they breathe air. Species of Siphonaria cling tightly to the rock when it is dry, and move around to feed on algae and detritus when the surface is wet from splashing waves or high tide. habitat : high intertidal, on or under rocks. Living specimens of Siphonaria crenata were found above the water line fastened to rocks lying dry (Barash and Danin, 1992).

1st Mediterranean record Israel, 1973 [1965]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Pacific Ocean. In the Suez Canal recorded by Tillier and Bavay (1905) and Moazzo (1939). Mediterranean: recorded first in 1965, as Siphonaria kurracheensis, from Shiqmona, Israel (Barash and Danin, 1973); successively from southeastern Turkey (Albayrak and Çeviker, 2001). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Rare. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Albayrak S. and Çeviker D., 2001. Two new extra-Mediterranean molluscs from southeast Turkey: Siphonaria belcheri Hanley, 1858 [Gastropoda: Siphonariidae] and Septifer bilocularis (Linnaeus, 1758) [Bivalvia: Mytilidae]. Israel Journal of Zoology, 47: 297-298. Barash A. and Danin Z., 1973. The Indo-Pacific species of mollusca in the Mediterranean and notes on a collection from the Suez Canal. Israel Journal of Zoology, 21(3-4): 301-374. Hübendick B., 1946. Systematic monograph of the Pateliformia. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapakademiens Handlingar, 3(23): 1-93.   Morrison J.P.E., 1972. Mediterranean Siphonaria. West and East -Old and New. Argamon, 3(1-4): 51-62. Thorson G., 1940. Studies on the egg masses and larval development of Gastropods from the Iranian Gulf. Danish Scientific Investigations in Iran, 2: 159-238. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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