The parasitic digenean flatworm Crassicutis cichlasomae infects Littoraria angulifera as both its first and second intermediate hosts. Examination of fish from several sites in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico showed that the cichlids Cichlasoma urophthalmus and C. meeki are definitive hosts of C. cichlasomae. (Scholz et al. 1995)
In a study of Mangrove Periwinkles on the Caribbean coast of Panama, Gutierrez (1988) found that daily activity peaked between 1 and 1.5 hours before dawn when the tide was rising. After dawn, although the tide continued to rise, activity decreased until nearly 90% of the snails were quiescent (adhered by the foot) close to the high tide waterline. When the tide receded in the afternoon, some snails (10%) resumed crawling. These snails moved under leaves or behind roots and stems and became inactive again. Half adhered to the substrate by a mucous seal and half were quiescent. At dusk and during the early night hours, some snails became briefly active as the tide began rising again, with activity becoming widespread as dawn approached. Snails concentrated close to the waterline at high tide. When the tide receded, snails dispersed. Smaller ones stayed close to the waterline or sought shelter inside algal turfs growing on the roots, while others moved to shaded places under leaves or behind stems in the higher levels of the tree. Although adults migrate over considerable vertical distances, juveniles stay close to the waterline, perhaps because only large Mangrove Periwinkles produce a mucous seal, which helps prevent drying out.
Mangrove Periwinkles (Littoraria angulifera) are conspicuous inhabitants of the mangrove forests of tropical and subtropical areas. These snails are found on mangrove prop roots, leaves, and branches from the waterline up to 7 meters above the high tide line. (Gutierrez 1988)
The Mangrove Periwinkle is a robust brown snail, 2 cm high, with dark brown markings and a pointed spire. The shell is thin, with 6 to 7 whorls and a sharp apex. It is often found on the undersides of mangrove prop roots. In Florida and the Caribbean, the Mangrove Periwinkle and mangrove crabs are the most distinctive animals associated with the upper prop roots of Red Mangrove. (Kaplan 1988)
The Mangrove Periwinkle (Littoraria angulifera) is found in Bermuda and from southern Florida to Texas, Brazil, and the West Indies (Abbot 1968; Morris 1973; Rehder 1981). Interestingly, it is also found in the eastern tropical Atlantic, along the West African coast. Both morphometric and genetic analyses suggest that these are truly disjunct populations of a single species on opposite sides of the ocean, rather than unrecognized cryptic species (Merkt and Ellison 1998; Reid et al. 2010).
The Mangrove Periwinkle (Littoraria angulifera) is associated with mangrove roots, trunks, and leaves and is found well above the high tide mark (Warmke and Abbott 1961; Morris 1973).
The Mangrove Periwinkle (Littoraria angulifera) is found on trees and wood pilings above the high tide line in mangrove areas and brackish water (Rehder 1981).
The Mangrove Periwinkle (Littoraria angulifera) is common on pilings and mangrove roots in warm, shallow waters (Abbott 1968).
The Marsh Periwinkle (Littoraria irrorata), which lives on marsh reeds, has a thick aperture lip and is patterned with dashed streaks on the spiral ridges (Witherington and Witherington 2007).
Periwinkles (Littorinidae) have rounded apertures and conical spires. The Mangrove Periwinkle (Littoraria angulifera) has a thin shell, sharp aperture lips, and a groove in the lower columella/inner aperture. It reaches a maximum length of about 2.5 cm. (Witherington and Witherington 2007)
The Mangrove Periwinkle (Littoraria angulifera) is about 3 cm high. It has 6 or 7 whorls, with a sharp apex. The body whorl is distinctly angled at the periphery. The shell is thin but strong. The sutures are slightly channeled. The shell is sculptured with minute spiral lines, but the first 2 whorls are smooth. The outer lip has a central groove in the lower part. The operculum is pale brown and horny. The shell color is variable: it may be gray, reddish, or purplish (more rarely orange or yellow), with dark oblique marking. The columella is white to purplish and the aperture is whitish. (Abbott 1968; Morris 1973; Rehder 1981)
Mangrove Periwinkles can tolerate submersion for a short period. Gutierrez (1988) observed mortality of 51.8% after 7 days and 100% after 17 days.
Like many species of high intertidal periwinkles, Mangrove Periwinkles have relatively degenerate ctenidia (snail gills) and a vascularized mantle epithelium, both features that favor O2 exchange in air (Gutierrez 1988 and references therein).
Larvae of the Mangrove Periwinkle develop within the female body cavity until they reach the veliger stage, at which time they are expelled into the water, usually during the higher tides of the lunar cycle (Gutierrez 1988 and references therein). This is characteristic of species in the subgenus Littorinopsis. Some authors have speculated that this habit (unique among littorinids) is an adaptation to supralittoral life on the vertical substrate of mangrove trees, where predation by crabs is severe; at spawning, females migrate down to the water level during high tide and rapidly release their larvae, reducing the time that would be required for the slow spawning of individual eggs from the oviduct and thereby minimizing exposure to aquatic predators. (Reid et al. 2010 and references therein)
Littoraria angulifera used to be known as Littorina angulifera, with Littoraria treated as a subgenus (e.g., Warmke and Abbott 1961).
Morris (1973) writes that this species is sometimes listed as Littorina scabra, which is a closely allied species of the South Pacific.
Rehder (1981) uses the name Littorina scabra angulifera.
The genus Littoraria includes 39 species, all of them tropical or subtropical,and the great majority occuring mainly on mangrove trees or other halophytic plants, in salt marshes, and on driftwood (Reid et al. 2010). Littoraria angulifera is in the subgenus Littorinopsis, all but one of which are obligate mangrove dwellers (Reid et al. 2010). Members of the subgenus Littorinopsis share a derived reproductive mode in which egg capsules have been lost and embryos are retained in the mantle cavity before their release as planktotrophic veliger larvae (Reid et al. 2010).
The Mangrove Periwinkle grazes primarily on fine algae, sponges, and detritus that it scrapes from the substrate with its radula (Gutierrez 1988 and references therein).
Littoraria angulifera or the mangrove periwinkle is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Littorinidae, the winkles. [1]
The maximum recorded shell length is 41 mm.[2] The shell usually has six whorls, the large first one occupying half the length of the snail. The color varies from slaty-brown through reddish brown to orange, dull yellow and off white. The smaller whorls have white spots near their edges and also some darker streaks which fuse together on the largest whorl.[3]
This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida south to Brazil. It is also found in the eastern Atlantic between Senegal and Angola.[3] It lives mainly above sea level on the branches and prop roots of the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle).[3]
Littoraria angulifera is a herbivore and browses on fungi and algae growing on the mangroves.[3]
Littoraria angulifera is ovoviviparous. Fertilized eggs are brooded inside the periwinkle and the veliger larvae are then released and become planktonic. After about 9 weeks these develop into pediveliger larvae which undergo metamorphosis and settle.[3]
Littoraria angulifera is used as a zootherapeutical product for the treatment of chesty cough and shortness of breath in traditional Brazilian medicine in the Northeast of Brazil.[4]
Littoraria angulifera or the mangrove periwinkle is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Littorinidae, the winkles.
