Species Account

Yoldiella curta Verrill & Bush, 1898

Nuculanoidea : Nuculanidae

Tebble name: n/a
Smith & Heppell name: Yoldiella curta Verrill & Bush, 1898

Notes on Nomenclature

Nuculanidae in place of Yoldiidae
Killeen & Turner (2009) use Nuculanidae instead of Yoldiidae in agreement with Ockelmann & Warén (1998) who explan that the distinguishing characters between these two families has never been well documented. Until the Yoldiidae can be clearly distinguished from the Nuculanidae we shall treat them under the single family Nuculanidae.

To size: To 4.9mm but usually less than 3mm. Shell Structure: Thin, fragile. Equivalve: Equivalve. Equilateral: Slightly inequilateral, beaks just in front of midline. Tumidity: Compressed. Outline: Rounded oval: short, steeply sloping, antero-dorsal margin, and a slightly pointed anterior end. Slightly rounded or straight, postero-dorsal margin. Posterior end slightly pointed with slight oblique truncation. Ventral margin deeply rounded. Umbo small, slightly pointed, not prominent and just anterior of mid-point.

Sculpture: Smooth, virtually no sculpture. Margin: Smooth. Ligament: Amphidetic, attached internally to the underside of the beak without a projecting chondrophore or resilifer. Moderately long, slightly arched. Hinge: Taxodont, short, very narrow, slightly curved hinge plate, with 5-6 slightly pointed, chevron-shaped teeth either side of the umbo. Periostracum: Glossy, straw-coloured. Colour: Translucent white. Additional Characters: The hind gut forms a narrow loop on both sides of the body which is highly visible through the semi-transparent shell. On the right side of the body the loop is curved with the two sides running parallel along the same course towards the anterior adductor muscle. The coil then crosses to the left side of the body where it forms a simple rounded loop.

Distribution & Ecology

Principally on the slopes of Rockall Trough in depths ranging from 1270 to 2275m, but only rarely in deeper water at 2900m.

Throughout the north and south Atlantic Oceans, occurring in most of the deep sea basins.

Depth Range
Bathyal (500 - 2000m)
Abyssal Rise (2000 - 4000m)

Additional Information & Related Species

References

Listed are literature citing Yoldiella curta Verrill & Bush, 1898. Reference containing the species Type Description is highlighted.

Allen, J.A., Sanders, H.L. & Hannah, F. 1995. Studies on the deep-sea Protobranchia (Bivalvia); the subfamily Yoldiellinae. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History. 61: 11-90.
Killeen I.J. & Turner J. 2009. Yoldiella and Portlandia (Bivalvia) from the Faroe-Shetland Channel and Rockall Trough, Northeast Atlantic. Journal of Conchology. 39 (6): 733-778.
Verrill A E & Bush K J 1898. Revision of the deep water Mollusca of the Atlantic Coast of North America with descriptions of new genera and species Part 1 Bivalvia. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 20: 775-901.

Resources

  • Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland
    Provides resources for understanding, identifying, recording, and conserving molluscs
  • CLEMAM
    Check List of European Marine Mollusca
  • MarLIN
    The Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland (MarLIN) provides information for marine environmental management, protection and education. It is a centre of excellence in spatially based and time-series marine biological information and supports good stewardship in the marine environment.
  • NBN Gateway
    National Biodiversity Network's Gateway. Use it to explore UK biodiversity data, as contributed by participating data providers.
  • BivAToL
  • MarBEF
  • Malacological Society
  • Unitas Malacologica
  • Census of Marine Life
  • MarBEF
    MarBEF, a network of excellence funded by the European Union and consisting of 94 European marine institutes, is a platform to integrate and disseminate knowledge and expertise on marine biodiversity, with links to researchers, industry, stakeholders and the general public.

Record last modified: 22/03/2016