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The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

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    • Newsletters 1961 - 2002
      • Collecting localities in the Cape Province
      • Field meeting Walton-on-Naze
      • Field meeting to Box Hill
      • Herons, Moorhens and Rats feeding on Anodonta anatina
      • Introduction
      • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 1) Species and subspecies
      • Oyster Catchers feeding on Patella vulgata
      • Volutes
      • Issue 3
        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 2) The significance of types
        • Land and freshwater snails: additions to the British List since 1926
        • Littoral collecting in the Scilly Isles
        • Snails in a Sussex garden
      • Issue 4
        • Biographical Note
        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 3) The genus
        • Learning in Nucella lapillus
        • Mollusca on Liverpool bomb sites
        • The Cardiacea
        • The Strombidae
      • Issue 5
        • A suggested method for extracting the animals from small high-spired shells
        • Commensual crabs in Mytilus edulis
        • Field meeting at Shell Bay, Dorset
        • Field meeting at West Runton and Overstrand
        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 4) Taxonomic history
        • J.G. Bruguiere 1750-98
      • Issue 6
        • A little more biography
        • Field meeting at Amberley
        • Field meeting to Grasswood, Yorkshire May 1962
        • Marine collecting in New Zealand
        • Marine mollusca of Carnac, Brittany
        • On the use and misuse of common names
        • Strand shells after Cornish gales
        • Trochus magus in the Isle of Wight
      • Issue 7
        • 35 years collecting
        • Field meeting Epping Forest
        • Field meeting White Downs
        • More strand shells after Cornish gales
        • Natural History Museum at Craster
        • Notes on the pholadidae
      • Issue 8
        • Field meeting at Norwich
        • Geology for conchologists - Introduction
        • Geology for conchologists - The last 15,000 years
        • The Strophocheilidae
      • Issue 9
        • More autobiography
        • Sinistrorsity
        • Some etymology
        • Systematics sewn up
      • Issue 10
        • Field meeting at Norbury Park
        • Papers for students
        • Rearing snails from the egg
      • Issue 11
        • Field meeting at Leith Hill
        • Posting living mollusca
        • Snails extinct in England but living abroad
        • The Viviparidae
    • 'Papers for students' 1964 - 1991
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        • Distribution of the Slipper Limpet
        • Status of Phenacolimax major
        • Survey of Cellar slugs
        • Survey of Malacolimax tenellus
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Mytilus edulis

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

Common

Distributed from Norway south to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.

Ecology and behaviour

Lives attached by byssus threads to any suitable hard substrate. It is very gregarious and often occurs in very dense beds. Even once anchored some movement is still possible by dropping some of the byssus threads. Feeds by filtering phytoplankton.

Similar species
  • Mytilus galloprovincialis
Key identification features
  • The beaks are at the anterior end of the shell
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176602]
Sort order
9270
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Mytilus edulis
  • Log in or register to post comments

Solid wedge shpaed shell up to about 15cm in length (though exceptionally may be bigger). The outside is purple, blue or brown in colour; the inside is pearl white bordered with purple or blue. The surface is sculptured with concentric rings.

Mysia undata

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

Widely distributed

Found from Norway south to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in sand, muddy sand, gravel and muddy shell gravel. Feeds by filtering phytoplankton.

Similar species
  • Dosinia lupinus is more solid, smoother and possesses lateral tooth in left valve
Key identification features
  • Broad mantle with wavy margin and deep pallial sinus
  • Fragile round shell with a sculpture of sunken concentric lines
  • No lateral tooth in left valve
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176591]
Sort order
11090
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Mysia undata

Chalky white, fragile shell, up to about 4cm in length. Almost round. White to light yellow in colour. Sculpture of fine, sunken, concentric lines. Left valve three cardinal teeth; right valve two. No laterals. Orange siphons widely separated.

Mysella bidentata

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in muddy sand and gravel but also occurs in the perforations of old oyster shells, burrows of Goldfingia and associated with Acrocnida brachiata.

Key identification features
  • Absence of cardinal teeth ?valve?
  • Surface sculptured with concentric lines
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176590]
Sort order
10080
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Mysella bidentata

Fragile shell up to 3mm in length. It is white to translucent in colour. The surface is sculptured with fine concentric lines.

Mya truncata

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

CommonDistributed from Norway south to the Bay of Biscay.

Ecology and behaviour

It burrows in sand, sandy mud or clay to a depth of about 20cm and feeds by filtering phytoplankton.

Key identification features
  • Posterior end of shell end abruptly
  • Lower margin of pallial line is confluent with pallial sinus
  • Large 'spoon' shaped chondrophore in the left valve and concealed chondrophore in the right valve
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176554]
Sort order
11110
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Mya truncata

Solid shell up to about 8cm in length. The outside is dirty white to fawn in colour; the inside white. The surface of the shell is sculptured with numerous concentric lines. The right valve is very slightly larger than the left and the shells gape at the hind end. The pallial sinus is broad an deep.

Mya arenaria

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

Common

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in sand, mud or sandy gravel to a depth of up to 30cm where it feeds by filtering phytoplankton. It can tolerate reduced salinity and so is often found in estuaries.

Key identification features
  • Large 'spoon' shaped chondrophore in the left valve and concealed chondrophore in the right valve
  • Lower margin of pallial line is not confluent with pallial sinus
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176553]
Sort order
11120
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Mya arenaria

Solid shell up to about 15cm in length. It is quite variable in appearance (possibly party due to growing in different salinities). The outside is dirty white to fawn in colur; the inside is white. The surface of the shell is sculptured with concentric rings and a few radiating lines. The right valve is slightly larger than the left and the shells gape at the hind end.

Musculus niger

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

LocalFrom the north of Norway to the south of Britain

Ecology and behaviour

Lives on muddy gravel bottoms where it filters phytoplankton.

Key identification features
  • There are 12 anterior ribs and 40-60 posterior ones.
  • Periostracum is olive or brown in juveniles becoming black in adults
  • 'Knobbly' appearance to the shell surface
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176550]
Sort order
9420
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Musculus niger

Brittle shell up to 5cm in length. The shell is dark brown in colour but obscured by brown periostracum (tends to appear black in older specimens). The inside of the shell is pearly tinged with blue or brown. The surface is sculptured with obvious concentric lines crossed with ribs in the anterior and posterior regions. The margin of the shell is crenulate where the ribs are present but smooth elsewhere.

Musculus discors

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

CommonNorway south to the Mediterranean

Ecology and behaviour

Found under rocks and among algae. Spins together algae to create a nest from where it filters phytoplankton

Key identification features
  • Anterior region of shell has 8-12 ribs; posterior 30-40 ribs
  • Periostracum is pale green of brown
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176548]
Sort order
9400
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Musculus discors
  • Log in or register to post comments

Brittle shell up to 1.5cm in length. The shell is yellow brown in colour but this is obscured by thick green or brown periositracum. The inside is generally white but sometimes pale purple. The surface of the shell is sculptured with fine concentric lines and radiating ribs. Margin of the shell is crenulate.

Musculus costulatus

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

Distributed from the south Britain to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.

Ecology and behaviour

Lives amongst algae and stones disguised with fragments of shell or gravel mixed up with the byssus threads. Feeds by filtering phytoplankton.

Key identification features
  • There are 8-10 anterior ribs and 20-30 posterior ones.
  • Periostracum is light green
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176547]
Sort order
9390
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Musculus costulatus
  • Log in or register to post comments

Brittle shell up to 1.5cm in length. It is dirty white in colour marked with purple brown streaks. The inside of the shell is pearly and sometimes dark brown. The surface of the shell is sculptured with fine concentric lines and ribs in the anterior and posterior region of the shell. The margin is crenulate where there are aribs but smooth elsewhere.

Montacuta substriata

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Ecology and behaviour

Lives attached to the anal spines of some species of sea urchin (Spatargus purpureus and Echinocardium florescens) usually in realtively coarse sediment.

Key identification features
  • Presence of teeth on the hinge
  • Sculpture of obvious radiating ribs
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176528]
Sort order
10010
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Montacuta substriata

Fragile shell up to 3mm in length. White to translucent both inside and outside. The surface of the shell is sculptured with radiating ribs and faint concentric lines.

Moerella pygmaea

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

Frequent

From Norway south to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in coarse sand or shell gravel where it feeds on organic detritus picked up through the siphon.

Similar species
  • Moerella donacina has a much deeper pallial sinus
Key identification features
  • Relatively deep pallial sinus
  • Oval in outline
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176500]
Sort order
10640
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Moerella pygmaea

Fragile shell up to about 1 cm in length. The colour is usually reddish / yellowish white but can include white pink, orange and brown sometimes aranged in streaks or blotches. Sculpture of concentric ridges.

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