|
|
ANOMIIDAE |
|
|
Click on an image to enlarge
|
Anomia trigonopsis F.W. Hutton, 1877 Description: Shell translucent to opaque. Shape irregular, approximately circular or ovate, distorted to conform to substrate, upper (left) valve more convex than right. Lower valve with byssal hole opening next to dorsal margin. Exterior of upper valve with coarse irregular radial ribs, stronger towards ventral margin. Lower valve smoother. Interior of valves smooth; left valve with a large, triangular opaque muscle attachment zone centrally towards dorsal margin, containing 3, small, sub-circular muscle scars. Hinge without teeth. Shell colour of upper valve yellow, pink, orange or green; lower valve often green internally. Size: Up to 85 mm in height. Distribution: Apparently occurs throughout Australia and New Zealand. Habitat: Lives in bays and estuaries from low tide level to around 10 m depth, attached to rocks, other shells or mangroves. Common to abundant. Synonymy: This has been known in Australia as Anomia descripta Iredale, 1936, which Iredale separated from the New Zealand shells (which were called Anomia trigonopsis) by supposed differences in the muscle scars. But Huber (2010) disputed Iredale’s interpretation of the muscle scars in the New Zealand shells and considered them to be the same species from both countries. Fig. 1: Botany Bay, Sydney, NSW (C.098059). |
|
