(Lamarck, 1818)

Description (shell):
Shell thin, elongate-oval, umbones posterior to midline. Anterior hinge line sloping very gently, posterior more steeply. Sculpture of numerous fine, concentric lines, and finer radiating striae; growth stages clear, often marked by colour bands. Right valve with two, indistinctly bifid, cardinal teeth, anterior larger than posterior; left valve with broad, bifid anterior and thin, indistinct posterior cardinals. Adductor scars and pallial lines distinct, cruciform scars unclear; pallial sinus broad and deep, lower border largely fused with pallial line.

Size:
Up to 25 mm long.

Colour:
Colour variable: yellowish white, orange, pink, chestnut, or dull red, often in contrasting bands, frequently with rays of red or chestnut. Inner surfaces glossy; white, yellow, orange, or reddish brown (G. tellinella-drawing).

Animal:
Burrows with the large foot usually extended as well as the long and sepatate siphons. The animal is white, its mantle with tooth-like fringe, and the upper (excurrent) siphon is marked by fine lines of white (G. tellinella-animal).

Habitat:
In coarse sand and gravel, offshore to about 60 m.

Distribution:
Distributed from southern Iceland to the Mediterranean (Distr. G. tellinella).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Heterodonta
Order Veneroida
Family Psammobiidae
Genus Gari
Species Gari tellinella

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Gari tellinella (Lamarck, 1818)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Psammobia tellinella Lamarck, 1818
Psammobia florida sensu auct. non Lamarck, 1818

Haas, F., 1926. Lamellibranchia. In Grimpe, G. & Wagner, E.: Die Tierwelt der Nord- und Ostsee.

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.

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

You can continue searching for Gari tellinella on one of these Web sites:

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

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia