Circenita callipyga (von Born, 1778)
Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, south to Mascarenhas, north to Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean. Only member of the genus in the Red Sea, this is a lessepsian species, living on sandy or sandy-muddy bottoms in the upper infralittoral: intertidal in the Ocean, in shallow water in Mediterranean. Original taxon: Venus callipyga. Synonyms: adenensis, fumata, funiculata… Above and below: a specimen found at 7m deep, near Ashkelon, South District, W. Israel. 29,9mm. Original pictures provided by A. Nappo (IT) – (CC BY-NC-SA).
Other synonym: Cytherea semiarata Dunker, 1863, who writes: « Testa ovata plus minusve inaequilatera, modice convexa, crassa, concentrice striata, in antico latere sulcis fortioribus striis concentricis paene parallelis instructa, grisea, maculisque fuscis irregularibus radiatim ordinatis picta, vel unicolor pallideque fusca; lunula oblonga, striata, subconcava, linea impressa terminata; umbones parvuli, subacuti approximati; pagina interna albido-coerulescens, vel rubens; margo integer; sinus pallii minimus. Cardinis structura eadem atque in Cytherea callipyga Bornii. » – W. Dunker: Novitates Conchologicae. Mollusca Marina. Beschreibung und Abbildung neuer oder wenig gekannter Meeres-Conchylien Abt.II, Cassel 1963, p.52-53.
Cytherea semiarata in Dunker, Plate XVII.
The species, under the name Venus virginea in the Sytematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz Bd.11 Abt.1, Nürnberg 1869, Plate XXXII, 9-10.
And under the name Cytherea callipyga Plate XXII, 11-12.
Specimens found near the watchtower of Al Ayjah, entrance of Sour harbour, Ash Sharqiyah South Governorate, NE. Oman. 38,8-43,3mm.

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