teeth to adjust to a change in diet. This snail favors sheltered positions and in exposed areas seeks the shelter of crevices or dense patches of seaweed. In unsuitable conditions, such as at times of food shortage or when there are excessive numbers of predators, it can produce a string of mucus which it uses as a "parachute" to help it to drift to a more favorable location. The sexes are separate in this snail with eggs being laid in a ring on seaweed or seagrasses. They may be laid throughout the year but in some locations, such as the British Isles, they are laid in the spring and early summer after which the adults die. The eggs hatch in about six days and the veliger larvae are planktonic for up to six months before settling on the shallow seabed at a shell-length of about . In eastern Canada these juvenile snails have been recorded at a density of 1500 per square meter. References Littorinidae Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Gastropods described in 1803 Taxa named by George Montagu (naturalist)