Trachycardium egmontianum

Trachycardium egmontianum
A view of a valve of Trachycardium egmontianum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Cardiida
Family:	Cardiidae
Genus:	Trachycardium
Species:	T. egmontianum
Binomial name
Trachycardium egmontianum (Shuttleworth, 1856)
Synonyms
Cardium egmontianum Shuttleworth, 1856

Trachycardium egmontianum, the Florida prickly cockle, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae.

Description

Several Trachycardium egmontianum shell specimens

Shells of Trachycardium egmontianum can reach a size of about 50 millimetres (2.0 in). These shells are oval, with 27 to 31 strong, prickly, radial ribs. The external surface is whitish to tawny-gray or pale purplish, with yellow, brown or purplish pathes. The glossy interior is pink, reddish or purplish. ^[1]

Distribution

This species can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from North Carolina through Florida ^[2] and into the West Indies. ^[3]

References

1. Abbott, R. Tucker American seashells. With illus. by Frederick M. Bayer, page 397
2. Abbott, R.T. & Morris, P.A. A Field Guide to Shells: Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. 56.
3. Stanley, Steven M (1981). ""Infaunal survival: Alternative functions of shell ornamentation in the Bivalvia (Mollusca)"". Paleobiology. 7 (3): 384–393. Bibcode:1981Pbio....7..384S. doi:10.1017/S009483730000467X. JSTOR   2400684 – via JSTOR.

• Shuttleworth, R.J. (1856). Description de nouvelles espèces. Première décade; espèces nouvelles pour la faune des Antilles. Journal de Conchyliologie. 5: 168-175, fig