LATERNULIDAE
lantern clams

  Laternula anatina
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Relevant Synonyms
Anatina labiata Reeve, 1863 [Tillier and Bavay, 1905]
Laternula subrostrata (Lamarck, 1818) [Tomlin, 1927]
Anatina subrostrata Lamarck, 1818 [Moazzo, 1939]

Misidentification
-

 photo: W. Engl    

SHORT DESCRIPTION
Shell medium sized, thin and fragile. Outline elongate, longer than high. Inequilateral shell, with rounded anterior margin, and rostrate upturned dorsally, widely gaping posterior margin. Sculpture of weak concentric undulations and lines. Ligament internal on a chondrophore. Hinge without dentition. Distinct pallial sinus.

color : white.

common size : to 75 mm in length, generally smaller in Red Sea (Oliver, 1992).

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
It is a readily distinguishable species of a genus with no Mediterranean representative and only one species known from the Red Sea.

BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY
Unknown.

habitat : deeply burrowing in muds from lower shore (ca. 5 m) to offshore (ca. 59 m).


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


DISTRIBUTION
Worldwide: Indo-Pacific, including throughout the Red Sea; recorded in the Suez Canal (Keller, 1883). Mediterranean: successive records from Egypt as Anatina labiata (Tillier and Bavay, 1905); Israel (Barash and Danin, 1973); Lebanon (Bogi and Khairallah, 1987) and southern Turkey (Engl, 1995).

ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS
Rare.

speculated reasons for success :
-


MODE OF INTRODUCTION
Via the Suez Canal.


IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS
None.


KEY REFERENCES

  • 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.
  • Bogi C. and Khairallah N.H., 1987. Nota su alcuni molluschi de provenienza Indo-Pacifica raccolti nella baia di Jounieh (Libano) - Contributo I. Notiziario del CISMA, 10: 54-60.
  • Engl W., 1995. Specie prevalentemente Lessepsiane attestate lungo le coste Turche. Bollettino Malacologico, 31(1-4): 43-50.

 

  • 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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