WinkleWatch
A Community Science Project on Snail Colour
Safety First! Looking for periwinkles can be dangerous work. Wet rocks can be slippery, so take care where you step. The sea shore can be hazardous! Follow these simple rules: be aware of the tide, do not leave children unsupervised, move carefully on slippery surfaces, only go to parts of the shore where you can move safely, do not enter private property.
Periwinkles are small sea snails found across the coasts of Europe and North America. Winkles come in a rainbow of colours and patterns, but why do these little snails have so much variation in colour? We are an international group of snail scientists working hard to answer this question, but we need your help! Send us your periwinkle pictures so we can unravel this beach mystery together!
Lots of animals have evolved colours that match their environments. Other animals have colours that don’t seem to match their environment.
Are periwinkles trying to blend in with their environment? Are they trying to stand out? Or have their colours evolved for a different reason?
Heading to the beach? Got your phone and a spare few minutes? Want to contribute to real science?
Join WinkleWatch!
The WinkleWatch project
We are an international group of snail scientists working hard to answer the question: Why do these little sea snails have so much variation in colour?
But we need your help! Using pictures of periwinkles sent to us from all across the world, we can unravel this beach mystery together!
We want to get the most out of your periwinkle pictures, so may use them in future publications.
Follow our socials and you might see your periwinkle picture posted!
Be a part of Science
Where to look...
Periwinkles like to live on hard surfaces, but can sometimes turn up in places we don’t expect them. At low tide, look for periwinkles clinging onto rocks or hiding in stoney cracks and crevices. Check on the map to see if there are Littorina saxatillis in your area.
What to look for ?
Our project is only looking at the species Littorina saxatilis, commonly known as rough periwinkles. There are lots of species of periwinkles found on our shores and, unfortunately for you, they all look quite similar... But don’t worry! We have lots of handy tricks to help you find what we’re looking for.
Tips to get the best Winkle shot!
To make sure the periwinkles are happy and healthy, leave them where you found them when taking their picture!
Keep your phone parallel to the rock the periwinkle is on, holding a penny, or the scale at the bottom of the flyer, next to the periwinkle and try to snap a clear picture, without shadows.
The sea shore can be hazardous! Follow these simple rules: be aware of the tide, do not leave children unsupervised, move carefully on slippery surfaces, only go to parts of the shore where you can move safely, and do not enter private property.
Send us your picture and tell us where it comes from and what it looks like.
If you have questions about the project, you can contact us on our social media or by email at winklewatch@gmail.com
The reasearch
Here we will post the progress of the analyses based on the data you provided us.
Want to dive deeper? Check out:
Johannesson, K., Butlin, R. What explains rare and conspicuous colours in a snail? A test of time-series data against models of drift, migration or selection. Heredity 118, 21–30 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2016.77
Anette Ekendahl, Kerstin Johannesson, Shell colour variation in Littorina saxatilis Olivi (Prosobranchia: Littorinidae): a multi-factor approach, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 62, Issue 3, November 1997, Pages 401–419, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1997.tb01633.x
Frequencies of colour phenotypes in skerry populations from 4 months after the manipulation in 1992 to 2013 (solid lines). Fitted declines in frequencies under a model of frequency-dependent selection (broken lines). Populations are coded as follows: (Top) White-1, blue; White-2, green; White-3, purple; White-4, red. (Mid) Banded-1, blue; Banded-2, green; Banded-3, purple. (Bottom) red, blue.
Johannesson, K., Butlin, R. 2017
We thank our local partners:
