Re: Homing instincts of limpets

Hello Ben,

Your question is a bit vague, but I have tried to find information on homing 
in intertidal limpets. I am most familiar with the fauna of the western 
coast of North America, so that is what I will address.  Limpets are 
gastropod molluscs, close relatives to other gastropods such as snails and 
abalones.  They have a single shell, which is usually cap-shaped or domed, 
and which they use as a shield.  

Many limpets have a home scar to which they return after foraging during 
high tide.  The home scar provides a tight fit for body of the animal, and 
then the shell clamps down around the scar to protect the animal from 
desiccation, temperature stress, UV radiation, and predation while the tide 
is out.   The limpet finds its way back to its home scar by following the 
mucus trail it secreted during its foraging trip – rather like unrolling a 
ball of string behind you as you wander through a maze, then retracing the 
path of string to find your way out.

There is a wonderful book by Ricketts, Calvin, and Hedgpeth, called Between 
Pacific Tides.  The systematic index has a very good reference section for 
most of the animals on our coast.  Here are a few that pertain to homing in 
limpets.  You should be able to find them at any university library.

Breen, P.A. 1971. Homing behavior and population regulation in the limpet 
Acmaea (Collisella) digitalis. Veliger 14:177-183.

Willoughby, J.W. 1973. A field study on the clustering and movement behavior 
of the limpet Acmaea digitalis. Veliger 15:223-230.

Jesse, W.F. 1968. Studies of homing behavior in the limet Acmaea scabra. 
Veliger 11 (suppl.):52-55.

Craig, P.C. 1968. The activity pattern and food habits of the limpet Acmaea 
pelta. Veliger 11 (suppl.):13-19.

Sibley, J.B. 1981. A study of homing in the owl limpet, Lottia gigantea 
(Sowerby), by analyzing its movement in an experimental pool. Master’s 
thesis, Biology, San Diego State University. 113 pp.

The following websites contain some information about limpets:
  http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/c_tramoserica.html has some 
photos 
and biology of a limpet of the southeastern Australian shores.
 http://
www-biology.ucsc.edu/classes/bio161l/mollusca.html is the web page 
for a rocky intertidal biodiversity project in the Monterey Bay National 
Marine Sanctuary.  You can find lots of limpet photos here.

Allison J. Gong
Mad Scientist