Relevant Synonyms Cuspidaria adenensis Jousseaume, 1888 Misidentification -  drawing: Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell small, almost equivalve, inequilateral. Outline elongate-oval usually tapering posteriorly but often distorted and slightly gaping. Height to length ratio varying resulting in shells higher than long or very elongate. Surface irregular. Sculpture of growth lines. Periostracum heavy. Ligament internal on a chondrophore. Pallial sinus deep. Ventral margin smooth. color : white with brown perostracum. common size : shell to 10 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Very different from Sphenia binghami Turton, 1822 the only other known species of the genus in the Mediterranean. Its main difference is in that the posterior part is narrowly rostrate. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY The Myidae are generally deep burrowers in soft sediments. Sphenia differs from most Myidae in adopting a nestling habit, attached by a weak byssus in crevices and among algae. Suspension feeder. habitat : lives within madreporic rocks and is subjected to numerous deformations. In tunnel. Shells on beach, under stone.

1st Mediterranean record Israel, 1986 [1978]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Arabian Sea, Red Sea; recorded in the Suez Canal (Moazzo, 1939). Mediterranean: only from Israel, Netanya, in 1978 (Barash and Danin, 1986). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Extremely rare; record based on one shell. Quite unlikely to become established considering its habitat. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Presumably via the Suez Canal by shipping (fouling on ship hulls). IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barash A. and Danin Z., 1986. Further additions to the knowledge of Indo-Pacific mollusca in the Mediterranean Sea. Spixiana, 9(2): 117-141. Dekker H. and Orlin Z., 2000. Check-list of Red Sea Mollusca. Spirula, 47(suppl.): 1-46. Moazzo P.G., 1939. Mollusques testacés marins du Canal de Suez. Mémoires de l'Institut d'Egypte, 38: 1-283 [Sphenia rüppelli, p.146].   FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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