Echinolittorina punctata (Gmelin, 1791)
Canarias to Gabon, to S. Mediterranean. Some groups occur now in NE. Occitania (Cap d’Agde, S. France) and in N. Tuscany (Monte Argentario, Grosseto) – cf. Albano, 2015. According to what discovered Evangelisti & al. (2017), the presence of E. punctata in Mediterranean seems recent, and could be linked to the end of the last glacial maximum. The thermophilous character of this species makes it a « new practical indicator of Mediterranean Sea changing conditions » (Albano, 2010) due to the effect of global warming.

Original taxon: Turbo punctatus.
Synonyms: siculus, syriaca, tristis.
Grazer in the supralittoral.
Pale shells collected at 10cm above sea level, on a wall of stones, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Barcelona, Catalunya, NE. Spain. 6-7mm.
Above and below:
In southern Cádiz, the species is abundant on rocky platforms. Most of individuals live in splash zone and near the sea level (above), but some groups can be found in tide pools (below).
Original picture provided by B.J. Muñoz Sanchez (ES).
(CC BY-NC-SA)
Popular walking in a tide pool.
Original picture provided by B.J. Muñoz Sanchez (ES).
(CC BY-NC-SA)
On the shore at Sdot Yam, Haifa, NW. Israel.
Original picture provided by advush for inaturalist.org.
– (CC BY-NC) –
Specimens from São Tomé, collected on intertidal rocks, southeastern end of the Baia de Ana Chaves. 10-10mm.
Turbo punctatus in M. Adanson’s collection. Lectotype MNHN-IM-2000-5520 from Gorée island, Dakar, Sénégal, in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris, France.
– (CC BY-NC-ND) –
A specimen at Port-Leucate, Occitania, S. France.
Original picture provided by A. Bertrand (FR) – (CC BY-NC-SA).
Intertidal, Kaštelanski Bay, Split-Dalmatia Comitat, S. Croatia. 14mm. Original pictures provided by N. Lete (HR).
(CC BY-NC-SA)

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