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SEMELIDAE |
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Rochefortina
sandwichensis
(E.A. Smith, 1885) Description:
Shell small or minute, translucent, moderately inflated. Shape
ovate, both ends rounded; umbo slightly behind midline; postero-dorsal
slope convex, antero-dorsal slope concave. Exterior with crowded
commarginal threads, sometimes absent from dorsal area, crossed by
radial threads of about same spacing leaving rows of deep pits where
they intersect. Interior with muscle scars unequal, pallial line
difficult to see, sinus extending almost to midline; margin smooth.
Hinge strong, as for family. Ligament in 2 parts;
dorsal part exterior, ventral part internal, attached in triangular pit
on chodrophore. Shell colour white, occasionally pink. Size:
Up to 4 mm in length, usually less than 3 mm. Distribution:
Widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, from Red Sea
to Hawaii plus the Panamic province of Central America. In Australia, on
the east coast known from Qld and NSW and on the west coast as far south
as south-western WA. Habitat:
Known from open ocean and harbour beach washup and down to 70 m.
Common. Synonymy:
Two species which Charles Laseron described in his 1953 work Minute
Bivalves from New South Wales – Spondervilia rubra Laseron
1953 and Spondervilia simplex Laseron 1953 – are now regarded
as synonyms of this widely distributed species. Fig.
1: 8314-1 |
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