Fissurellidae, common name the keyhole limpets and slit limpets, is a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized limpet -like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Vetigastropoda. [2][3] Their common name derives from the small hole in the apex of their cone-like shells.

Megathura crenulata is a northeastern Pacific Ocean species of limpet in the family Fissurellidae [1] known commonly as the great keyhole limpet [2] or giant keyhole limpet. [3] Megathura is a monotypic genus; in other words, this is the only species in that genus.

Called a radula, this rasping tongue is the world's strongest biological structure - it has to be to constantly scrape sponges off tough rocks without wearing away. Their shell is oval and conical, with a distinctive hole at the tip that gives them their name.

Keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) is a large, multisubunit, oxygen-carrying, metalloprotein that is found in the hemolymph of the giant keyhole limpet, Megathura crenulata, a species of keyhole limpet that lives off the coast of California, from Monterey Bay to Isla Asuncion off Baja California.

Mar 22, 2019 · Reaching about 125 mm (about 5 inches), the Giant Keyhole Limpet, Megathura crenulata G.B. Sowerby I, 1825, is one of the behemoths of the limpet universe. A herbivore gastropod, this unusual mollusk stands out not only because of its size, but also because its mantle can extend out, completely enveloping the shell.

Jan 3, 2025 · Distinguishing Characteristics: The Keyhole Limpets have a simple flattened conical shell without whorls or spire. There is a hole at the top of the shell which gives the family its common name. Habitat: These snails prefer to live on hard bottoms and in seagrass beds in intertidal waters. Diet: This family grazes on algae that grows on rocks.

Limpets are a type of aquatic snail with a cone-shaped shell. The shell of the giant keyhole limpet is covered by a black to mottled gray mantle with a single, central hole at the top. As implied by its genus name (Mega), it is one of the largest keyhole limpets with a shell length of up to 13 centimeters wide. Habitat & Behavior

Dec 28, 2018 · The Rosy Keyhole Limpet, Fissurella rosea (Gmelin, 1791), is one of the most common species of keyhole limpets in the western Atlantic and Caribbean region. This species, however, is only very rarely found on our barrier islands.

The Cayenne Keyhole Limpet belongs to a large family of conically-shaped shells found mostly in temperate or tropical seas. The family of shells is known as Fissurellidae. The apex of these oval shells almost always has a slit or notch in it, hence the name “Keyhole.”

This type of radula is found in the giant keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata). The large size of this organism suggests that the rhipidoglossan radula entails a technological superiority for M. crenulata in its habitat.