#4588 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs
Common Periwinkle
🇳🇱 Gewone alikruik ·Littorina littorea
🐌 Snails, slugs & other molluscs 📍 in the Netherlands
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Robin Gwen Agarwal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Roger Birkhead · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 3. © Poul Erik Rasmussen · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Robin Gwen Agarwal · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © kmccallum · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © softwaresimian · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Emily Hjalmarson · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Amanda Cogan Barber · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Neil DeMaster · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Teri · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The common periwinkle or winkle ( Littorina littorea ) is a species of small edible whelk or sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc that has gills and an operculum, and is classified within the family Littorinidae, the periwinkles.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 211 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #20 most seen of the snails, slugs & other molluscs in NL.
- 23,335 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Common Periwinkle
- Nederlands
- Gewone alikruik
- scientific name
- Littorina littorea
- class
- Gastropoda
- order
- Littorinimorpha
- family
- Littorinidae
- sightings in NL
- 211
- sightings in Europe
- 6,539
- sightings worldwide
- 23,335
- GBIF records in NL
- 6,608
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
relatives· Littorinidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 81606, Wikidata Q27935, GBIF 2301117, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.