< Previous species


SOLEMYIDAE


Next species >


7655-1.jpg (661509 bytes)

 

 

Solemya velesiana Iredale, 1931

Description: Light weight, lightly calcified, equivalve, very inequilateral, almost cylindrical with ends rounded, a little wider anteriorly. Umbones near posterior end, poorly defined. Hinge absent. Ligament internal, attached to chondrophore (= a flat plate below shell’s dorsal margin). Interior with well-defined muscle scars. Exterior covered with thin transparent periostractum extending beyond margin of shell; numerous darker broad rays edged with a shallow grove.

Size: Up to 16 mm in length.

Distribution: Moreton Bay, Qld, to South Australia.

Habitat: In Moreton Bay, this species lives in shallow burrows in seagrass-covered sands, along with other chemosymbiotic bivalves (Taylor, Glover & Williams (2008)).

Comparison: Solemya terraereginae Iredale, 1929 from southern Queensland is similar but the shell is not wider anteriorly.

Fig. 1: Broulee area, NSW. C.195587


Copyright Des Beechey 2023