| Chamelea striatula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Left and right valve of Chamelea striatula, inside and outside view | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Venerida |
| Family: | Veneridae |
| Genus: | Chamelea |
| Species: | C. striatula |
| Binomial name | |
| Chamelea striatula (da Costa, 1778) [1] | |
Chamelea striatula, the striped venus clam, is a marine bivalve mollusc of the family Veneridae which inhabits the northern shores of Europe.
The valves of Chamelea striatula are robust and not very convex, with a beak which is prominently bent towards the shell's anterior and sits behind a clearly delimited lunula. The valves appear nearly triangular: The beak sits anterior to the center of the valve, and the dorsal margin behind it runs with a very slight curve all the way down to the lower margin of the shell, giving the posterior end a point. They commonly grow to about 3 cm in size. [2] The ligament is inset, and both valves' hinges have three cardinal teeth but no lateral teeth. The pallial sinus is triangular and very small.
The interior lower margin is finely crenelated and the outside of the shell is marked by many regular concentric ridges. [3] [4]
Well preserved or live specimens typically have a pattern of darker rays or zigzags on a lighter background, and are cream coloured or brown with a lighter inside. [3]
The bivalve can be found from Norway to Morocco, and is known also from Madeira and the Canary Islands. Its range extends into the Mediterranean, where it coexists with the slightly larger common venus clam ( Chamelea gallina ). [5] The two live sympatrically on the coast of Algarve, in the Gulf of Cádiz, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Alboran Sea. [6]
Fossil valves are common in the North Sea, where they are likely not older than the Holocene or Pleistocene. [7] [8]
There are two living species in the genus Chamelea , [9] C. striatula and C. gallina, whose independence from each other was supported by genetic evidence in 1994 [6] and 2017. [9] Generally, C. gallina is thought of as a Mediterranean and C. striatula as an Atlantic species [10]
In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Linné named Venus gallina based on the Mediterranean species, not accounting for the presence of an extremely similar venus clam on the northern coasts of Europe. Many authors quickly coined names for this overlooked species and its many slight morphological varieties, most notably Da Costa's Pectunculusstriatulus (1778), [11] which today is the basis of record for Chamelea striatula. Other notable obsolete names include Pennant's rugosa (1777), [12] technically the first one to be coined, and Montagu's laminosa (1808), [13] which describes a deep water variety with almost lamellose ridges [4]
As was convention at the time, [14] British conchologists paid attention practically exclusively to the animals' shells, and rarely to the animal itself. Only in 1853 did Forbes and Hanley [4] describe the most reliable way to distinguish striatula from gallina: the former's siphonal tubes are fully joined, while the latter's are separate and much shorter. The characteristic traits of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean form were often understood to form a continuum, which made their separation a matter of opinion [15] [10]
The Veneridae or venerids, common name: Venus clams, are a very large family of minute to large, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. Over 500 living species of venerid bivalves are known, most of which are edible, and many of which are exploited as food sources.
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.
Chamelea is a genus of small saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Chamelea gallina is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
The Mediterranean mussel is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture.
Propebela rufa, common name the red conelet, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.
Periglypta is a genus of bivalves in the subfamily Venerinae of the family Veneridae.
Hysteroconcha dione or the elegant Venus clam, formerly known as Venus dione, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
Mactra glauca is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mactridae, the trough shells.
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.
Hysteroconcha lupanaria is a species of marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
Hinge teeth are part of the anatomical structure of the inner surface of a bivalve shell, i.e. the shell of a bivalve mollusk. Bivalves by definition have two valves, which are joined together by a strong and flexible ligament situated on the hinge line at the dorsal edge of the shell. In life, the shell needs to be able to open slightly to allow the foot and siphons to protrude, and then close again, without the valves moving out of alignment with one another. To make this possible, in most cases the two valves are articulated using an arrangement of structures known as hinge teeth. Like the ligament, the hinge teeth are also situated along the hinge line of the shell, in most cases.
Lioconcha castrensis, common name the zigzag venus, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Panopea glycimeris is a species of large marine bivalve mollusc in the family Hiatellidae.
Neopycnodonte is a genus of marine bivalve molluscs belonging to the family Gryphaeidae.
Paphia is a genus of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the subfamily Tapetinae of the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
Lioconcha hieroglyphica is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Megapitaria squalida, the chocolate clam, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae. It was first described to science by George Brettingham Sowerby, a British conchologist, in 1835. The type specimen was collected by Hugh Cuming.
Polititapes aureus is a species of bivalve belonging to the family Veneridae.
Venus crebrisulca is a species of marine clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.