Tectura virginea (O.F. Müller, 1776)
Iceland & Svalbard, Norway to Mediterranean, to SW. Africa and offshore islands. Gregarious micrograzer that feeds on diatoms and red algae in the infralittoral and the circalittoral, down to 325m deep (Ampère and Seine seamounts). Original taxon: Patella virginea. Two forms: “conica” and “lactea”.

Above: gerontic specimen from beach drift, La Franqui, Leucate, Occitania, S. France. 3,7mm.
Notice the nature of the margin.
Original pictures provided by I. Clanzig (FR) – (CC BY-NC-SA).
« Testa integerrima alba, radiis rubris. » – O. F. Müller: Zoologiae Danicae prodromus, Copenhagen 1776, p.237.
Synonyms: parva, pulchella, unicolor.
A specimen attached to a Callista chione, Nosterven cliffs, les Sables rouges, Groix island, S. Brittany, NW. France. 5mm.
The author in 1776. Engraving by Meno Haas. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen. Public domain.
Kongsfjord, Berlevåg, Finnmark, N. Norway. 6,3mm.
Original pictures provided by A. Warén (Stockholm Natural History Museum) for WoRMS (CC BY-NC-SA).
A specimen from Barents Sea, pictured along the eastern coast of Teriberka fjord, Kola peninsula, NW. Russia. Original picture provided by krokozavr for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).
The animal is never large. Low tide on a wooden piece, Falmouth, Cornwall, SW. England. Original picture provided by bgroos on gbif.org – (CC BY-NC).

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