PSAMMOBIIDAE
sanguin clams

  Hiatula ruppelliana
(Reeve, 1857)

Relevant Synonyms
Soletellina rubra (Schroeter, 1788) [Moazzo, 1939]
Psammobia ruppelliana Reeve, 1857 [Tillier and Bavay, 1905]
Psammobia rueppelli [Pallary, 1912]
Psammotellina rueppelliana [Dautzenberg, 1929]
Soletellina rueppelliana [Mienis, 1980]

Misidentification
Psammobia elongata Lamarck [Issel, 1869]
Soletellina subradiata (Reeve, 1857) [Barash and Danin, 1982]

 drawing: Tuvia Kurz    

SHORT DESCRIPTION
Shell medium sized, equivalve, almost equilateral, rather compressed with a narrow posterior gape. Outline elongate more than twice as long as high; anterior margin rounded to slightly acute; posterior margin obtuse. Sculpture smooth with concentric lines. Hinge with two cardinal teeth in each valve; no lateral teeth. Ligament external on a raised nymph. Periostracum thin, olivaceous. Internally, crusiform muscle scars and deep pallial sinus.

color : variable from off white through tinged pink to violet, occasionally with few posterior radial rays.

common size : Mediterranean record 46 x 19 mm; up to 70 mm in length.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
It is distinguished from other Psammobiidae by the uniform sculpture of concentric lines, especially posteriorly, and by the coloration in shades of purple.

BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY
Deposit feeders, they burrow deep within the substratum.

habitat : dredged, depth unknown. The genus is known to inhabit tranquil waters in lagoons and estuaries (Oliver, 1992).


1st Mediterranean record
Egypt, 1905 [no collecting date].


DISTRIBUTION
Worldwide: throughout the Red Sea; recorded in the Suez Canal (Krukenberg, 1888). Mediterranean: reported first in Egypt, Port Said (Tillier and Bavay, 1905) as Psammobia ruppelliana; more recently in Bardawil lagoon (Mienis, 1980b).

ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS
Established but rare. Was considered acclimatised in Port Said (Pallary, 1912) but latest records are based on a few valves in Bardawil.

speculated reasons for success :
-


MODE OF INTRODUCTION
Via the Suez Canal.


IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS
None.


KEY REFERENCES

  • Mienis H.K., 1980b. Soletellina rueppelliana. Another Erythraean species from the Mediterranean coasts of Israel. Levantina, 26: 31.
  • Oliver P.G., 1992. Bivalved seashells of the Red Sea. Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 330 p.
  • Pallary P., 1912. Catalogue des mollusques du littoral méditerranéen de l'Egypte. Mémoires de l'Institut d'Egypte, 7: 69-207, pl. 15-18.

 

  • Tillier L. and Bavay A., 1905. Les mollusques testacés du Canal de Suez. Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France, 30: 170-181.

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Last update : January 2005

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