This is quite a hard limpet to spot, as it is often covered with coralline "paint" algae and blends into its background very well. If you do spot it, it is a small limpet with 7-25 ribs giving it a distinctly star shaped outline. It is a low lying animal and the tallest part of the shell is in the centre. It clings to the rocks very tightly and can be hard to get off. However, if it can be examined on the lower surface one can see that it has white tentacles and an obvious head.

The limpet is fairly common from mid to low tide amongst coralline algae and can be found in the shallow sub-tidal zone. It often hides amongst other encrusting species such as barnacles.

This limpet grazes on the algal film on the rocks and returns to a home scar.

Photo Credit: Rod Morris. Photos available from www.rodmorris.co.nz