42 Littorina compressa album. Comparison image of banded juvenile Littorina littorea. Height 3.5mm. In vacant barnacle shell. Menai Strait, Wales. March 2011.

42 Littorina compressa album. Comparison image of banded juvenile Littorina littorea. Height 3.5mm. In vacant barnacle shell. Menai Strait, Wales. March 2011.

Juvenile L. littorea:
Inset at 2X main scale.
1: Patch of wrinkled periostracum. Usually so thin and closely adhering that it escapes notice on adults, and is frequently eroded off.
2: Periostracal fragments on thin, fluted, banded palatal lip.
3: Bristle-like projections of periostracum forming white crest on ribs; regularly occur on juveniles.
4*: Narrow spiral ribs with sharp raised adapical edge; distinctly different from L. compressa but might be mistaken for those on some L. arcana and L. saxatilis s.s.
5*: Dark spiral lines on ribs (frequent on juv. L. littorea) may cause confusion with nigrolineate forms of L. compressa but its dark lines are usually in its grooves.
6: Pure white columellar lip, often has vitreous lustre; distinguishes L. littorea from L. saxatilis and L. arcana (their lips may be off-white or tinted with other colours).
7*: Dark patch where banded palatal lip adjoins pure white columellar lip; distinguishes L. littorea from L. compressa.
8. Shell of earliest stage of L. littorea is usually whitish without pigment; survives as whitish apex on later stages unless eroded off.