40 Patella pellucida. Range of specimens from juvenile (GS3) to adult (GS5). Vacated beachworn shells. Northumberland, England. © P.Lightfoot.

40 Patella pellucida.  Range of specimens from juvenile (GS3) to adult (GS5). Vacated beachworn shells. Northumberland, England.  © P.Lightfoot.

The layer of zig-zag lamellae of calcite that iridesces the blue rays is close to the surface and has been abraded from all these beachworn shells except the smallest, which has probably lost its occupant recently. Care may be needed to distinguish such shells from beachworn specimens of other limpet species.

Concise
Part 1, SHELL FORMS: 02 Patella pellucida. Growth Stage 2 (GS2). July 2012. Littoral. North Yorkshire, England. © P. Lightfoot.
Part 2, BODY & ANATOMY: 03 Patella pellucida. Growth Stage 3 (GS3). 2009. Sublittoral, Farne Islands, Northumberland, England. © P.Lightfoot.
Part, 3 HABITS & ECOLOGY: 04 Patella pellucida. Length 4.6mm. Growth Stage 3 (GS3). September 2016. Yorkshire, England. © P.Lightfoot.