(Turton, 1822)

Description (shell):
Shell elongate, anterior and posterior margins rounded, shaped rather like a date; umbones close to midline. Sculpture of fine concentric lines and two groups of radiating ridges, one in middle region of shell, the other extending posteriorly from umbones. Growth stages clear. Right valve with two cardinal teeth, posterior larger than anterior, perpendicular to hinge line and curving outwards from beneath umbo; left valve with one identical tooth. Adductor scars and pallial line distinct. Cruciform muscle scars unclear; pallial sinus broad, irregular, extending into anterior half of shell.

Size:
Up to 60 mm long.

Colour:
Dull white, periostracum thin, olive or yellow-brown. Inner surfaces white (S. scopula-drawing).

Animal:
Animal has a large and powerful foot of more or less cylindrical shape.

Habitat:
In sandy or shelly gravel, from the lower shore into the shallow sublittoral.

Distribution:
Distributed south to the Mediterranean and West Africa (Distr. S. scopula).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Heterodonta
Order Veneroida
Family Solecurtidae
Genus Solecurtus
Species Solecurtus scopula

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Solecurtus scopula (Turton, 1822)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Psammobia scopula Turton, 1822
Solen candidus Renier, 1804
Solecurtus albus de Blainville, 1827
Solen multistriatus Scacchi, 1834
Solen candidus Deshayes, 1839 ; Deshayes, 1839 ex Renier
Solen albicans Nardo, 1847 ; Nardo, 1847 ex Chiereghini ms.
Adasius loscombeus Leach in Gray J.E., 1852
Solen gallicus Chenu, 1858
Solen strigilatus sensu auct. non Linné, 1758
Solecurtus candidus

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.

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 Solecurtus scopula on one of these Web sites:

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

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