CreatureData

Boat shell

Crepidula fornicata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedsnails and slugs

The boat shell (Crepidula fornicata) is a species in the family Calyptraeidae, order Littorinimorpha.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the boat shell

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the boat shell live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the boat shell as introduced in 12 countries, and flagged as invasive in 6 of them.

  1. Denmarkinvasive
  2. Franceinvasive
  3. Italyinvasive
  4. Netherlandsinvasive
  5. Swedeninvasive
  6. United Kingdominvasive
  7. Belgium
  8. Germany
  9. Greece
  10. Ireland
  11. Malta
  12. Spain

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the boat shell endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the boat shell classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumMollusca
  3. classGastropoda
  4. orderLittorinimorpha
  5. familyCalyptraeidae
  6. genusCrepidula
  7. SpeciesCrepidula fornicata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Crepidula densata, Crepidula riisei, Crepidula virginica, Crypta densata, Crypta fornicata, Crypta nautarum, Crypta nauturum, Patella fornicata

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • American slipper limpetEnglish
  • American slipper-limpetEnglish
  • Atlantic slipper shellEnglish
  • Common Atlantic slippersnailEnglish
  • Common slipper limpetEnglish
  • Common slipper shellEnglish
  • Common slipper snailEnglish
  • Oyster-pestEnglish
  • Slipper limpetEnglish
  • Slipper shellEnglish
  • EsclopCatalan
  • hučka střevícováCzech
  • tøffelsneglDanish
  • PantoffelschneckeGerman
  • crépiduleFrench
  • ネコゼフネガイJapanese
  • Paprastoji klumpsraigėLithuanian
  • muiltjeDutch
  • Крепидула сводчатаяRussian
  • krepidula klenutáSlovak
  • ostronpestSwedish
  • Amerikanische PantoffelschneckeGerman
  • PorzellanpantoffelGerman
  • berlingot de merFrench
  • Crépidule commune de l'AtlantiqueFrench
  • crépidule pontéeFrench
  • Amerikaans muiltjeDutch
  • gewoon muiltjeDutch
  • slipperDutch
  • slippertjeDutch
  • toffelsnäckaSwedish

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the boat shell

Other species in the same genus Crepidula.

CompareBoat shell vs Onyx slippersnailBoat shell vs Hooked slippersnailBoat shell vs Flat boat shellBoat shell vs Convex slippersnail

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the boat shell an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the boat shell as invasive in 6 countries, including Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden. It lists it as introduced in 12 in all.

What kind of animal is the boat shell?

The boat shell (Crepidula fornicata) belongs to the family Calyptraeidae in the order Littorinimorpha.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Boat shell (Crepidula fornicata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/boat-shell

MLA

“Boat shell (Crepidula fornicata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/boat-shell.

BibTeX
@misc{boat_shell_2026,
  title = {Boat shell (Crepidula fornicata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/boat-shell},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}