Common Periwinkle: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Crabs and Shells · day 6 of 7

Five facts

1. If a climbing periwinkle gets too hot or too cold, it pulls into its shell and starts rolling, which may drop it back into the water.
2. It eats with a ribbon-like tongue covered in rows of tiny teeth, seven in each row, which scrape algae off the rocks.
3. A female lays from 10,000 to 100,000 eggs in tough capsules. The babies hatch out and drift in the sea before settling on the bottom.
4. It goes by many names: winkles, buckies, willicks or wilks in Britain and Ireland, and even wrinkles in Newfoundland.
5. Brought from Europe to North America, it was first seen there in 1840. It is now the most common sea snail on the North Atlantic coast.

The quiz

1. What does a periwinkle do if it gets too hot or cold while climbing?

• It buries itself in sand
• It pulls into its shell and rolls (correct)
• It sticks tighter to the rock
• It changes colour

It withdraws into its shell and rolls, which may drop it into the water.

2. How many tiny teeth are in each row on its tongue?

• Two
• Twenty
• A hundred
• Seven (correct)

Each row has seven teeth, used to scrape algae off rocks.

3. How many eggs does a female periwinkle lay?

• 10,000 to 100,000 (correct)
• 1 to 3
• About 20
• About 500

Each female lays between 10,000 and 100,000 eggs, wrapped in capsules.

4. What are periwinkles commonly called in Newfoundland?

• Pebblers
• Sea beans
• Wrinkles (correct)
• Rock buttons

In Newfoundland and Labrador they are usually called wrinkles.

5. When was the periwinkle first recorded in North America?

• 1540
• 1840 (correct)
• 1940
• 1990

It was first recorded in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, back in 1840.

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