limpet, lempet, lympyne

lempette, lempine (not recorded), from Lat. lepad-, crude form of lep as (cf. Sp. lepada )=a limpet. ( Skeat.)] Zoology : 1. Sing .: A popular name for any of the proso branchiate gasteropods of the family Patellide and (more properly) of the genus Patella (q.v.). The shell is usually oval and tent-shaped; interior smooth, but not nacreous; the outside rough or with radiating ribs; the margin sometimes spiny. Limpets are worldwide in their distribution. They are vegetable feeders, and inhabit rocks between tide Limpets. marks, returning to the same place after feeding, and adhering so firmly that it requires a great effort to detach them from their resting-place, which is worn into a smooth concavity beneath the foot of the animal. It is much used by fishermen for bait, and in times of scarcity, for food. Vast quantities fall a prey to sea and shore birds. The oyster catcher ( Hem a top us ostralegus) is exceedingly dexterous in detaching these mollusks from the rocks, and scooping the animals from their shells. 2. Pl .: The family Patellide, or, more strictly, the genus Patella (q. v.).