Observations on the Homing Limpet, Acmaea scabra Gould

The limpets have created a great deal of interest among naturalists because of the homing habit which is exhibited to a marked degree by certain members of the group. Extensive observations on Patella vulgata L., the common limpet of the Atlantic coast of Europe, have been made by J. H. Orton (1929) and by E. S. Russell (1907, 1909). Only two series of observations concerning the homing habit of members of the genus Acmaea have been recorded. Wilcox (1905) found no evidence of homing in the New England species, A. testudinalis (L.), while Wells (1917) obtained indefinite results in a brief study of A. scabra and A. testudinalis.