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MYTILIDAE |
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Gregariella barbata (Reeve, 1858) Description: Shape equivalve, elongate, with umbones incurved and situatednear anterior end. Dorsal margin curved; posterior end broadly rounded. Margin crenulate. Ligament fairly long, curved. Interior slightly nacreous with muscle scars obscure, exterior sculpture showing through. Exterior with three sculptural panels; anterior and posterior panels with concentric growth lines, middle panel radially ribbed. Colour of shell uniformly white. Periostracum fawn, with dense branching hairs posteriorly. Size: Up to 10 mm in length. Distribution: From central Qld, southward and around southern Australia to south-western WA, including Tasmania. Habitat: The Australian Museum collection holds specimens from bays and harbours and the open coast, from the intertidal level down to 220 m depth. Specimens are from sandy-mud habitats where they live attached by the byssus to shell or gravel particles below the surface, or from rocky shores, wharf pylons or structures where they attach to any solid substrate. Common. Comparison: Similar to G. splendida, but this species has a fawn periostracum rather than dark brown, the margin is weakly crenulate, and the periostracum consists of long, branching hairs. Fig. 1: Middle Harbour, Sydney (C.336668)
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