(Pennant, 1777)

Description (shell):
Shell thin and brittle, obliquely oval, umbones anterior to midline; anterior margin deeply concave about a broad, oval pedal gape. Both valves strongly convex. Sculpture of numerous corrugated concentrated lines and radiating ribs, forming short, triangular tubercles where they intersect, most numerous and pronounced anteriorly. Umbonal reflections without septa. An elongate, lanceolate protoplax dorsally (B. parva-drawing). Apophysis delicate, flat, extending half-way towards ventral margin. Adductor scars and pallial line distinct, pallial sinus rather irregular.

Size:
Up to 50 mm long.

Colour:
Dull white, periostracum yellowish, often discoloured. Inner surfaces white.

Habitat:
Bores into soft limestones, sandstones and argillaceous rocks; lower shore and shallow sublittoral.

Distribution:
Distributed from the southern North Sea southwards to the Mediterranean (Distr. B. parva).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Heterodonta
Order Myoida
Family Pholadidae
Genus Barnea
Species Barnea parva

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Barnea parva (Pennant, 1777)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Pholas parva Pennant, 1777
Pholas crenulata Spengler, 1793
Pholas dactyloides Lamarck, 1818
Pholas tuberculata Turton, 1822
Pholas ligamentina Deshayes, 1839
Anchomasa pennantiana Leach, 1852
Barnea quadrangula Jeffreys, 1865
Pholas duboisi Locard, 1889
Pholas parva var. major Pallary, 1900
Barnea crenatula auct.

Hayward, P.J., Wigham, G.D. & N. Yonow, 1990. Mollusca I: Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, and Gastropoda. In: The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe. (ed. P.J. Hayward & J.S. Ryland). Clarendon Press, Oxford: 628-730.

Jeffreys, J.G., 1869. British conchology. Vol. V -258 pp. Van Voorst, London.

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.

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

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