Patella aspera Patella aspera Patella aspera is a species of limpet, a type of sea snail in the family Patellidae. Long considered to be a subspecies of "Patella ulyssiponensis", genetic evidence supports its recognition as a separate species. It is native to Macaronesia. It is known by the common name Azorean limpet, and its local name is "lapa brava". This species lives on rocks in the shallow sublittoral and intertidal zones. It is a keystone species which is of ecological importance as a grazer. It is collected for food. Overharvest is the main threat to the species, which has faced population declines
Traditional Chinese medicines derived from the human body "Three Corpses; demonic spirits believed to live in the human body and hasten death" and "gǔdú" 蠱毒 "gu poisoning"; a poison produced by venomous insects; cast a black magic spirit possession over someone". The first "Bencao gangmu" prescription for human nails is not from Chinese medical texts but from Daoist rituals for expelling what (Cooper & Sivin (1973: 220) describe as the "Three Corpse-Worms 三尸, the chief of the "inner gods" who are to the individual microcosm what the celestial bureaucracy is to the cosmos." Prescription 52.6.1, the 斬三尸法 "Method of Beheading the Three Corpses", involves supernaturally cutting the nails