Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  photo: W. Engl / Coll. D. Çeviker

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell equivalve, subequilateral. Outline subovate. Lunule impressed. Sculpture of radial riblets intersected by strong concentric lamellae. Hinge with three cardinal teeth and small laterals prominent anteriorly. Inner margin crenulate. Pallial sinus, small. color : white cream with areas of darker brown, internally flushed with pink. common size : shell to 35 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS It closely resembles the Mediterranean common clam Venus verrucosa Linnaeus, 1758 from which it differs in the shape (more rounded in V. verrucosa), size (V. verrucosa is larger reaching 65 mm) and sculpture of the shell (in V. verrucosa the radial riblets are diverging at the posterior end). BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Poorly known. habitat : sands, offshore; the Mediterranean record was found at beach after storm (Engl, pers. comm.).

1st Mediterranean record Turkey, 1999 [1988]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea; recorded in the Suez Canal (Oliver, 1992). Mediterranean: reported only from Iskenderun, southern Turkey in 1988 (Engl and Çeviker, 1999). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Extremely rare; record based on one valve. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Unknown. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Engl W. and Çeviker D., 1999. New migrant species from southeast Turkey Psammotreta praerupta (Salisbury, 1934) and Antigona lamellaris Schumacher, 1817. La Conchiglia, 290: 17-20. 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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