Japanese deep-sea limpet

Cocculina japonica

FAMILY

Cocculliidae

TAXONOMY

Cocculina japonica Dall, 1907, Sea of Japan.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Shell aperture oval with apex close to center; shell sculpture of concentric growth lines with radial punctuations extending from apex to shell margin. Shell white-gray covered with thin periostracum. Interior of shell whitish with inconspicuous muscle scar. Length 0.15–0.31 in (4–8 mm).

DISTRIBUTION

Found at 164–2,460 ft (50–750 m). Northwestern Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan.

HABITAT

Waterlogged wood.

BEHAVIOR

Nothing is known.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Feeds on microbes associated with the breaking down of wood on the deep-sea bottom.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Simultaneous hermaphrodite with copulatory structure adjacent to right cephalic tentacle.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.