Outside of right valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by Jan Light from Ballykoorsilly Quay, Co. Donegal, 55o14.7'N 7o45.5'W. Length = 2mm.
Turtonia minuta
<em>Turtonia minuta</em> (Fabricius, 1780)
Turtonia minuta
Distribution and status
Common
Occurs from the north of Norway down to the Mediterranean
Ecology and behaviour
Lived attached by byssus threads in crevices on rocky shores. In places densities of 60 000 per cubic metre have been recorded. Feeds by filtering phytoplankton. In reproduction the females produce gelatinous capsules and attach them to their byssus. These capsules contain a few large embryos that develop directly into young bivalves (ie. No larval stage)
Similar species
Key identification features
- Margin of shell is not crenulated
- Small shell (up to about 0.3cm)
- No lateral teeth but three cardinal teeth in each valve
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000178537]
Sort order
11060
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
Fragile brown shell but quite plump. Sculpture of fine concentric rings. Muscle scars and pallial line weak.