(Brown, 1827)

Description (shell):
Shell is solid, equivalve; inequilateral, beaks in front of the midline. Broadly oval in outline. Ligament reaching about one-third the length of the escutcheon. Sculpture of up to 25-30 prominent broad concentric ridges and numerous concentric lines. Lunule and escutcheon are prominent, each with fine radiating lines. Growth stages not clear. Right valve with two cardinal teeth, a broad anterior and thin posterior; anterior is variable in shape and may be so deeply bifid as to look like two teeth. Left valve with three cardinals of which the posterior is very inconspicuous and may be broken off. Margin is smooth.

Size:
Up to 3.2 cm in length.

Colour:
White. Periostracum with a fine mesh-like structure, dark brown or red-brown in colour.

Animal:
Body almost round, flattened from the sides. The lips are large; the mantle is thick, not fringed with tentacles, but part of it forms a short excretory siphon behind. The foot is conical and small, though powerful.

Habitat:
Generally in sandy mud and gravel offshore below 5.5 m.

Distribution:
Only from northern waters (Distr. A. elliptica). Distributed from Greenland across to the Kara Sea and the White Sea south to the W. Baltic, the British Isles, the Faroes, Labrador and Massachusetts.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Heterodonta
Order Veneroida
Family Astartidae
Genus Astarte
Species Astarte elliptica

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Astarte elliptica (Brown, 1827)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Crassina elliptica Brown, 1827
Venus compressa Montagu, 1808 ; partim non Venus compressa Gmelin, 1791
Crassina ovata Brown, 1827
Astarte garensis Smith J., 1839
Astarte intermedia Sowerby, 1854
Tridonta elliptica

Poppe, G.T. & Y. Goto, 1993. European Seashells. Vol. II. 221 pp. Wiesbaden/Verlag Christa Hemmen.

Seaward, D.R., 1990. Distribution of the marine molluscs of north west Europe. Nature Conservancy Council.

Step, E., 1927. Shell life. 421 pp. Frederick Warne & Co., LTD, London.

Tebble, N., 1966. British Bivalve Seashells. 212 pp. Trustees of The British Museum (Natural history). London.

You can continue searching for Astarte elliptica on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

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