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LUCINIDAE |
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Pillucina symbolica (Iredale, 1930) Description: A small-sized thick-shelled lucinid. Shape subovate, height equal to width, very inflated. Umbones a little posterior of mid-line, lunule shallow. Exterior with fine commarginal ridges and dense radial threads, strongest on anterior and posterior ends. Interior with whole margin denticulate; posterior muscle scar well-defined, anterior scar slightly larger than posterior; pallial line patchily discontinuous. Hinge with right valve with single cardinal tooth, left valve with two cardinal teeth. Right valve with a posterior lateral but no anterior lateral. Left valve with posterior lateral but no anterior lateral. Ligament internal with long, narrow attachment area. Shell colour white. Size: Up to 7 mm in height. Distribution: Eastern Australia, as far south as Twofold Bay, NSW. Habitat: Intertidal and subtidal, down to 90 m depth. Occurs in harbours and estuaries in NSW. Comparison: This species is similar to Pillucina pisidium (Dunker, 1860), which occurs throughout the Indo-West Pacific region from east Africa to New Caledonia. Synonymy: The name Pillucina pisidium was used for the NSW species until Iredale renamed it Sydlorina symbolica in 1930. It has since been confirmed as a separate species by genetic analysis (Taylor & Glover (2021). Fig. 1: Gunnamatta Bay, Port Hacking, NSW (C.572403) |
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