Archaeogastopoda (Thiele, 1925) order, which is distributed along the Mersin coastline.
The research area consists of three regions of 4 m2 covering the supralittoral at sea level
and the mediolittoral and infralittoral zones below the sea water level determined from
the Mersin Viranşehir coast. A total of 80 individuals were sampled from the study area.
Species identification of the samples brought to the laboratory was made by considering
the morphological appearance of the radula teeth. In addition, the Shell morphology of all
individuals was determined. Finally, the statistical analysis of the data was evaluated by
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the relationship between the variables by
calculating the Pearson linear correlation coefficient. In the study, no individuals
belonging to the P. caerulea were found in the supralittoral zone of all three areas of 4 m2.
It was determined that all individuals collected from the mediolittoral and infralittoral
zone belonged to the P. caerulea species. Morphometrically, individuals of P. caerulea
distributed in the infralittoral zone were larger than those distributed in the mediolittoral
zone (p<0.01). According to the shell shape analysis findings, individuals sampled from
the mediolittoral zone had a narrower, elliptical shell, with the apex closer to the center.
In contrast, individuals sampled from the infralittoral zone had a wider, ovule, and the
apex was asymmetrical near the anterior end. Individuals sampled from both zones did
not differ in terms of conicity (p>0.01). The shell surface area and shell volume of
individuals sampled from the infralittoral zone are larger than those sampled from the
mediolittoral zone.