Relevant Synonyms Volsella perfragilis Dunker, 1857 Misidentification Modiola (Arcuatula) glaberrima (Dunker) [Barash and Danin, 1971] Volsella glaberrima Dunker, 1857 Mytilus glaberrimus "Reeve" [Vaillant, 1865] Modiolus glaberrimus (Dunker) [Barash and Danin, 1992]  drawing: Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell equivalve, very fragile. Inequilateral, with beaks subterminal. Outline modioliform, but transversely elongate, narrowly ovoid. Surface smooth with very weak pattern of radial lines discerned only by the dysodont teeth. Hinge with 1-5 very weak dysodont teeth at the anterior end and up to 15 at the posterior part behind the ligament. Periostracum shining. color : pale green with very few yellowish radial lines across the dorsal - posterior area. common size : to 20 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Resembles Musculista senhousia that is distinguished by its darker, less glossy, more inflated shell and by the fewer, small but definite riblets anterior to the umbones. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Unknown. habitat : from nearshore to shelf (9-60 m); attached by byssus to clods of mud, often in clusters. Other species of this genus secrete a mucous nest in which they nestle, embedded in soft muddy substrates offshore. At Port Said, also in lagoons.

1st Mediterranean record Israel, 1973 [1960]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: original distribution in the Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea (Oliver, 1992). Recorded from the Suez Canal (Moazzo, 1939). Mediterranean: recorded first in 1960 as Modiolus glabberrimus from Bat Yam, Israel (Barash and Danin, 1973); successively from Bardawil Lagoon, Egypt (Barash and Danin, 1971) and Port Said. ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Moderate number of specimens along the Israel coasts, uncommon in Sinai coast. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barash A. and Danin Z., 1971a. Mollusca from Sparus auratus. Argamon, 2: 97-104. Barash A. and Danin Z., 1973. The Indo-Pacific species of mollusca in the Mediterranean and notes on a collection from the Suez canal. Israel Journal of Zoology, 21(3-4): 301-374. Barash A. and Danin Z., 1977a. Additions to the knowledge of Indo-Pacific Mollusca in the Mediterranean. Conchiglie, 13(5-6): 85-116.   Barash A. and Danin Z., 1992. Fauna Palaestina: Mollusca I. Annotated list of Mediterranean molluscs of Israel and Sinai. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 405 p. + 372 figs. Oliver P.G., 1992. Bivalved seashells of the Red Sea. Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 330 p. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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