(Müller, 1776)
Description (shell):
Shell smooth and conical without a marginal slit, apical hole or internal septum. Apex tilted forwards, about one third of shell length behind anterior end. In sublittoral animals the apex is more central (A. virginea-drawing).
Size:
Up to 10 mm long, 8 mm broad, 4 mm high.
Colour:
Pink lines on white-yellow background, the lines often broken to give a chequered pattern. Inner surface white or pink and smaller shells have a dark red V-shaped mark with the point near the apex and the arms diverging posteriorly.
Animal:
Mantle edge with red bands under those of the shell; no marginal tentacles and no pallial gills; a ctenidium in the nuchal cavity. Foot without epipodial tentacles and operculum. The head has a broad snout with two tentacles each with a small eye at its base. The lips round the mouth are drawn out into posterior lobes. Flesh white, yellow or pale pink; mantle edge with glands which are chalk white or scarlet.
Habitat:
At LWST to depths of 100 m. Common in rock pools, also attached to the underside of smooth, fixed stones with a growth of red weeds, especially Lithothamnion , on which it feeds.
Distribution:
On both coasts of the North Sea (Distr. A. virginea). Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Europe.