(Laskey, 1811)

Description:
A small, thin and smooth shell. The lower valve is always smaller than the upper valve. No ribs, but closely set concentric growth striae.

Size:
Up to 10 mm in diameter.

Colour:
White, grey, cream or yellow, sometimes mottled with brown.

Animal:
The animal has about 20 unequal ocelli (eye-spots) in two series, black with a pearly centre.

Habitat:
On sand and fine gravel bottoms, 4-1800 m deep.

Distribution:
A cosmopolitan species, but mainly found in the northern hemisphere. From southern Iceland and northern Norway south to Angola. Also reported from the Canaries, Madeira and the Mediterranean (Distr. H. similis ).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Pteromorphia
Order Pterioida
Family Pectinidae
Genus Hyalopecten
Species Hyalopecten similis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Synonym of Similipecten similis (Laskey, 1811)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Pecten similis Laskey, 1811
Ostrea tumida Turton, 1819
Pecten pullus Cantraine, 1835
Pecten foresti Gay, 1858 ; Gay, 1858 ex Martin H. ms. pars
Pecten pygmaeus sensu Philippi, 1844 non Münster, 1836
Similipecten similis
Cyclopecten similis

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 Hyalopecten similis on one of these Web sites:

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

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