Species Account

Ensis leei Huber, 2015

Solenoidea : Pharidae

Non-native
Tebble name: n/a
Smith & Heppell name: Ensis americanus (Gould in Binney, 1870) in Binney, 1870)

To size: To 150mm. Shell Structure: Brittle. Equivalve: Equivalve. Equilateral: Inequilateral, beaks at the anterior end. Outline: Ensiform, broad, dorsal and ventral margins distinctly curved; anterior subtruncate; posterior obliquely truncate.

Sculpture: Of co-marginal lines and growth stops. Margin: Inner margin smooth. Ligament: External, a long narrow brown/black band behind the beaks. Hinge: LV with two rather bulbous cardinals and two laminar posterior laterals, one lying above the other; RV with a single laminar cardinal and a single posterior lateral. Pallial Musculature: Pallial sinus S-shaped, separation of posterior adductor scar and pallial sinus less than length of adductor scar. Anterior adductor scar slightly exceeding length of ligament; pedal retractor muscle adjacent to end of ligament. Periostracum: Green to dark brown anteriorly. Colour: Dirty white to gray with some cream mottling, internally some tinged buff/mauve.

Distribution & Ecology

A burrower in sand. From low in the intertidal to nearshore shelf depths. An alien species first reported from the Netherlands in 1984 and from the UK in 1989. Now spreading over the southeast coast of England.<http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1716>. Discovered in Milford Haven in 2002 and again further west at Dale in 2003.

Depth Range
Intertidal
Continental Shelf (to 200m)

Additional Information & Related Species

Additional Comments

pages 559-560; note: Nomen novum for Solen (Ensis) americanus Gould in Binney, 1870 non Solen americanus Chenu, 1843

Related Species

References

Listed are literature citing Ensis leei Huber, 2015. Reference containing the species Type Description is highlighted.

Huber, M. 2015. Compendium of Bivalves 2 Harxheim: ConchBooks.. 907 pp..

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.

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Record last modified: 30/06/2022