Species Account

Limopsis aurita (Brocchi, 1814)

Limopsoidea : Limopsidae

Tebble name: Limopsis aurita (Brocchi)
Smith & Heppell name: Limopsis aurita (Brocchi, 1814)

To size: To 20mm. Shell Structure: Solid, opaque. Equivalve: Equivalve. Equilateral: Inequilateral, beaks in front of midline. Tumidity: Somewhat compressed. Outline: Obliquely oval. Contour: Dorsal margin straight, short, shallowly cleft.

Sculpture: Smooth with growth lines. Margin: Inner margin smooth. Ligament: Amphidetic, a small triangular resilum set in a shallow resilifer between beaks. Hinge: Taxodont, strong teeth in two series set on a shallow arched hinge plate. Pallial Musculature: Adductor scars unequal, posterior twice size of anterior. Periostracum: Of straw coloured fine hairs lying against the shell often restricted to a marginal fringe. Colour: White, older worn shells often grey.

Distribution & Ecology

Semi-infaunal, anchored by a byssus, of a single thread, to sediment particles. At the shelf edge and upper slope. Along the whole of the western seaboard.

Depth Range
Continental Margin Zone (200 - 500m)

Additional Information & Related Species

Juvenile Description

As adults but with few teeth.

Key Features & Similar Species

Limopsis aurita can occur with L. minuta, both have a thatch-like periostracum but L. minuta is tumid, narrower and has a denticulate inner margin. The abyssal L. tenella has a thin shell and finer, longer bristles and stronger underlying sculpture.

Related Species

References

Listed are literature citing Limopsis aurita (Brocchi, 1814). Reference containing the species Type Description is highlighted.

Brocchi 1814. Conchiologia fossile subappenninica con osservazioni geologiche sugli Appennini e sul suolo adiacente I&II. Milano. 712pp, 16pls.
Oliver G & Allen J A 1980. The Functional and Adaptive Morphology of the Deep-Sea Species of the Family Limopsidae (Bivalvia: Arcoida) from the Atlantic. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B. 291: 77-125.

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: 17/05/2016