| Lutraria lutraria (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Norway & Baltic to Morocco, Mediterranean.
Lives burrowed in sandy-muddy bottoms, often in Zostera fields, from lower intertidal grounds down to ≈ 100m deep. Suspension feeder. Original taxon: Mya lutraria.
This is the largest member of the genus in Mediterranean.
Calambrone beach, Livorno, Toscana, W. Italy. 90mm. |
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Synonym: magna da Costa. Cf. the analysis given by M. Lucas in La Conchiglia vol. 192-193: if E. M. da Costa’s description of the Chama magna can be applied to lutraria as well as to oblonga, « the references and the figure do not match the species known by the name L. oblonga. » It is not, therefore, L. oblonga but a junior synonym of Linné’s Mya lutraria. Reference: M. Lucas: “On the application of the law of priority to the name of a European species of Lutraria”, La Conchiglia vol. 192-193, Roma 1985, p.6-7.
Beachstromed, Le Grau du Roi, Gard, S. France. 35-65mm. |
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Synomym: elliptica Lamarck, 1801.
At low tide on sand, Grande plage, NW. of Quiberon peninsula, S. Brittany, NW. France. 110-120mm. |
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| Adult specimen collected at extreme low tide, Les Rosaires, Plérin, St-Brieuc area, N. Brittany. 91-92mm. |
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| Keremma beach, Tréflez, N. Finistère, NW. Brittany. 103mm. Notice the V-shaped cardinal on the left valve (bottom), and its more compact counterpart on the right valve (top). |
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At low tide on sand, Koksijde, West Flanders, Belgium.
Original picture provided by F. Nuyttens form WoRMS.
– (CC BY-NC-SA) – |
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| Intertidal, Noordwijk, Zuid-Holland. Original picture provided by M. Langeveld for iNaturalist – (CC BY-SA). |
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| Lutraria elliptica in plate XII of Forbes & Hanley: A history of British Mollusca and their shells vol. 4, London 1853. |
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| Lutraria elliptica in J. G. Hidalgo: Moluscos marinos de España, Portugal y las Baleares, Madrid 1870, plate VI. |
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| The species in G. P. Deshayes: “Hist. Nat. Mollusques t. I”, Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie, Paris 1844-1867, pl. 34. |
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| The species bears orange-brown siphons. Above, a specimen burrowed in sediments at the foot of a reef, north of Callot Island, Carantec, N. Finistère. Original picture provided by P. Corbrion for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC-SA). |
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| Extreme low tide on sand bank, Les Noires, Saint-Malo, N. Brittany. 93mm. |
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| Intertidal, Laredo, Cantabria, N. Spain. Original picture provided by zarapito for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC). |