Evolution & Systematics

Limpets are belonged to the class of Gastropoda. Their significant evolutionary process among gastropod shells is which the coiling characteristic greatly reduced in them.  This results a conical shell and a large aperture of ventral part of their body (Denny 2000).  This shell shape has achieved several evolution advantages including a better response to thermal and desiccation stress in the intertidal zone; reducing oxygen availability with low-spired shells for a larger gill, and minimising hydrodynamic forces by a large aperture for adhesion the rock (Denny 2000).

The life history of C. tramoserica considers close related to three other species in term of population dynamics (Parry1982).  These species are included: Notoacmea petterdi, Patella peroni and Patelloida alticostata (figure 7, 8, 9).  They can be found on the same shore near San Remo Melbourne, Victoria in different tidal zone.  In the comparison of growth, mortality and reproduction, P. peroni had similar rates of growth and mortality with C.tramoserica but different reproductive effort. In contrast, N. petterdi and P alticostata have the similar reproductive effort with C. tramoserica (Parry 1982).