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SOLEMYIDAE |
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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 |
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