| Chamelea gallina | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Venerida |
| Superfamily: | Veneroidea |
| Family: | Veneridae |
| Genus: | Chamelea |
| Species: | C. gallina |
| Binomial name | |
| Chamelea gallina | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Chamelea gallina is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve in the family Veneridae, the venus clams. [2]
Carl Linnaeus originally described Venus gallina from the Mediterranean Sea in 1758. It was not clear whether da Costa's 1778 Pectunculus striatulus was a different northern species or not.
Linnaeus afterwards mentioned that his V. gallina also occurs in Oceano Norvegico. In 1952, following Dodge, the name Chamelea gallina was considered to be valid. There were for a while two recognised subspecies: the Mediterranean C. g. gallina, and the Atlantic C. g. striatula. [1] However by 2016, the two subspecies were elevated to the species level, and listed separately on the database WoRMS.
The shell is solid and thick, with two equal sized valves and up to five centimetres long. It is broadly triangular but asymmetrical, having a round anterior margin but a somewhat elongated posterior. The periostracum is thin and the ligament connecting the two valves is narrow. The lunule is short and heart-shaped, light brown with fine radiating ridges. The shell is sculptured with about fifteen concentric ridges. The colour is whitish, cream or pale yellow, sometimes shiny, and usually with three red-brown radiating rays. [3]
Chamelea gallina occurs on Eastern Atlantic coasts, from Norway and the British Isles, Portugal, Morocco, Madeira and the Canary Islands. It is also found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea and is abundant in the Adriatic Sea. [3]
Chamelea gallina lives under the surface of clean and muddy sand at a depth of between five and twenty metres. It is a filter feeder, taking in a variety of microalgae, bacteria and small particles of detritus. [3]
This species is used for food. In 1995 the total recorded catch was 42,000 tons with the largest catches being taken by Italy and Turkey. The shells are mostly caught with dredges but some bottom trawling is done and some aquaculture takes place in Italy. [3]
The European Union regulament n° 1667/2006 [4] has forbidden the commerce of clams having a length less than 25 millimeters. The full list of the forbidden marine species is available as an annex of the Habitats Directive.
The new EU limit to the length of clams came into force in 2010. Two years later, the sanctions started to include a fine until a maximum of 4,000 euros, [5] besides to the seizure of the catch and the closure of the activity. [6]
The norm recalled a decree adopted by the Italian President Saragat in 1968 [7] [8] and created a severe economic damage for the Italian enterprises belonging to the ittic sector, characterized by a production of clams 22 millimeters long. That type of clam is an historic production of the Adriatic Sea mainly in Venice and Chioggia, [9] but also in Rimini and the Romagnole Coast [10] ), and even in Campania due to the climate change and a new different mean saltiness of the Italian seas. which blocks the adult claim's growth at a diameter of around 22 mm. [5]
Against an intensive lobbying activity of the Spanish deputies at the European Parliament, in June 2016 the Italian parties reached a temporary triennal exception to the limit, in order to avoid the crisis of the ittic sector and to protect an Italian typical production. [11] On 9 October 2019, the exception was firstly delayed for another year [12] until 31 December 2020. [13] Italian organizations are pressing to the EU Parliament to concede a new dispensation form the limit of 25 millimeters.
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America.
Venus is a genus of small to large saltwater clams in the family Veneridae, which is sometimes known as the Venus clams and their relatives. These are marine bivalve molluscs.
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Cyrtopleura costata, or the angel wing clam, is a bivalve mollusc in the family Pholadidae. It is found in shallow parts of the northwest Atlantic and also in the North Sea of Scotland coastline and west coast of the Adriatic Sea by a remote area in the Marche region in central Italy, living in the seabed, where it digs its burrows on a very slow revolving movement for years through soft sand and mud always to a max depth of 8ft but always below 3 feet (0.91 m) at the lowest tide.
Dyspanopeus sayi is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North Sea since 2007 and the Black Sea since 2010. It can reach a carapace width of 20 mm (0.8 in), and has black tips to its unequal claws. It feeds on bivalves and barnacles, and is in turn eaten by predators including the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Eggs are produced from spring to autumn, the offspring reach sexual maturity the following summer, and individuals can live for up to two years. The closest relative of D. sayi is D. texanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico; the two species differ in subtle features of the genitalia and the last pair of walking legs.
Venus casina is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the venus clams. While the species is classified by World Register of Marine Species as Venus casina, the Catalogue of Life uses Circomphalus casina.
Acanthocardia tuberculata, the rough cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, a cockle, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae. The genus Acanthocardia is present from the Upper Oligocene to the Recent.
Molluscs play a variety of roles in culture, including but not limited to art and literature, with both practical interactions—whether useful or harmful—and symbolic uses.
Solecurtus strigilatus, also known as the rosy razor clam, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Solecurtidae. This mollusc is a suspension feeder and can burrow with great rapidity to escape predators. It is an unusual bivalve in that its shell valves are too small to contain all the soft tissue, and the animal is unable to retreat into its shell.
Acanthocardia echinata, the prickly cockle or European prickly cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae.
Pharus legumen, is a species of bivalve mollusc commonly found burrowed in the sand on lower shores and in the shallow sublittoral.
Chamelea striatula, the striped venus clam, is a marine bivalve mollusc of the family Veneridae which inhabits the northern shores of Europe.