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SPONDYLIDAE |
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Spondylus tenellus Reeve, 1856 Description: Shell solid, heavy. Shape almost circular plus small auricles. Right (lower) valve more deeply cupped than left. Exterior of both valves with about 20 primary low radial ribs bearing weak to strong spines, and with 3-8 finely spined secondary riblets between. Interior white with single muscle scar. Hinge above a flattened triangular cardinal area, with 2 strong teeth in each valve. Shell colour white, orange, pink, mauve or scarlet. Size: Up to 100 mm in height. Distribution: Endemic to Australia: southern Qld southwards and around southern Australia, to south-western WA, including Tas. Lamprell (2006) extended the range to northern Queensland, but I have seen no specimens from north of Moreton Bay. Habitat: Lives attached to the substrate or free on the bottom, from 10 m down to about 150 m. There are specimens in the Australian Museum collection taken by SCUBA divers at 9-11 m depth around Sydney. Lamprell (2006) gave the following habitat information: “… it favours areas of some current flow, which are relatively silty, and bear significant brown and green algal cover. Under favourable conditions such as shallow shipwrecks, or other marine structures, it can be found in large numbers, with specimens of superior quality covered in a mass of marine growth, which can totally obscure the shell. Individuals exposed to direct light without significant sponge or algal encrustation suffer serious erosion. ... In the deep waters of Bass Strait, scallop trawlers report S. tenellus free-living on a muddy substrate …”. Synonymy: Spondylus prionifer Iredale 1931 and Spondylus parocellatus Iredale, 1939 are previously recognised synonyms. Fig. 1: Off Twofold Bay, NSW, in 91 m (C.074104). |
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