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Rahma Belmokhtar

  • Biodiversity Journal, 13 (3): 0483-0494

    Fayza Belmokhtar, Rahma Belmokhtar, Ahmed Kerfouf & Mohammed Bey Baba Hamed
    Morphometric analysis of three Mediterranean limpets Patella caerulea Linnaeus, 1758, P. rustica Linnaeus, 1758 and the endangered P. ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 (Gastropoda Patellidae) from the Algerian West Coast
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2022.13.3.483.494

    ABSTRACT
    The characterization of Patella caerulea Linnaeus, 1758, P. rustica Linnaeus, 1758 and P. ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 (Gastropoda Patellidae) has been a source of debate and controversy since they were proposed as species. This was due to the high shell variability, and some of them display intermediate characteristics. In the present work, samples of three species of Patella were examined and compared using several morphometric characters describing the shell and soft parts. 575 individuals of P. caerulea, 132 individuals of P. rustica, and 45 of P. ferruginea were sampled from Algerian West Coast. The biometry of the three species has been studied: length (L), width (Wi), height (H) of the shell and the weight (W) of every individual. A strong positive correlation was noted between these parameters for all three species. These parameters were used also for the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The three Patella species showed substantial morphology variability. P. rustica was easily recognized due to small brown spots near the shell apex. P. ferruginea (lamarckii form, rouxii form) were well identified from the other Patella species but for P. caerulea, a high morphological variability was noted between us in studied localities.