Littoraria irrorata
species of mollusc
Littoraria irrorata, also known by the common name the marsh periwinkle, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Littorinidae. The specific epithet irrorata means 'moistened' or 'dewy.'
This species occurs in salt marshes on the Atlantic coast and Gulf Coast of North America, from Massachusetts to Texas.
Some colonies of this species of snail are the only mollusks known to practice fungiculture.
L. irrorata is an essential part of the salt marsh ecosystem. This is displayed in its strong relationship with Sporobolus alterniflorus, also known as Spartina alterniflora, a grass commonly found in abundance in salt marshes.
Description
The maximum recorded shell length is 29.2 millimetres (1.15 in). L. irrorata is extremely temperature tolerant. The snail has the ability to retract its foot into its shell when experiencing thermal stress which allows them to avoid water loss by evaporation and survive in high temperatures.
Distribution
This species can be found along Ireland, the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Spatial distributions of L. irrorata in salt marshes likely depend on predation pressures and vary with geography.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Littoraria irrorata” as species of mollusc. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of mollusc. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3143143. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Littoraria irrorata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.