page_title: Scutellastra cochlear
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Scutellastra cochlear / Description
caption_attribution_description: Scutellastra cochlear (Von Born, 1778)
context_page_description: Scutellastra cochlear is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is commonly known as the snail patella, the pear limpet or the spoon limpet and is native to South Africa. It often grows in association with the crustose coralline alga Spongites yendoi and a filamentous red alga which it cultivates in a garden. It was first described by the malacologist Ignaz von Born in 1778 as Patella cochlear.
context_section_description: Scutellastra cochlear has a distinctive pear-shaped shell. It is a slow-growing species and may live for 25 years, attaining a length of 70 millimetres (2.8 in). The outer surface is often encrusted with coralline algae. The inner surface is white with a bluish tinge, sometimes speckled with black patches, and with a black, U-shaped muscle scar.
caption: Scutellastra cochlear shells.
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