| Acmaea mitra | |
|---|---|
| A live individual of Acmaea mitra. The shell is covered in encrusting red coralline algae, which is why it appears to be pink | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Patellogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Patelloidea |
| Family: | Lottiidae |
| Genus: | Acmaea Eschscholtz, 1833 |
| Species: | A. mitra |
| Binomial name | |
| Acmaea mitra Rathke, 1833 |
|
Acmaea mitra, common name the whitecap limpet, is a species of sea snail or true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Lottiidae, one of the families of true limpets.
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Acmaea mitra is the only species in the genus Acmaea.[1][2]
Acmaea have been the type genus of the family Acmaeidae (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Based on molecular phylogeny research by Nakano & Ozawa (2007)[1] is Acmeaidae a synonym for Lottiidae.
The shell of this species is white. The whitecap limpet is a specialist herbivore, feeding only on certain algae with its docoglossan radula.