| Mactra stultorum (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Norway to Canarias, Sénégal, Mediterranean. Burrowed in fine sediment, from intertidal to « nearshore shelf » (MBSBI). Original taxon: Cardium stultorum.
5m deep, in the channel at the foot of Palaiokastro hill, Voidokilia beach, NW. of Pylos Bay, western Messinia, SW. Peloponnese, Ionian Sea. 31-37mm. |
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| Pylos bay. 50,2-50,3mm. |
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Synonyms: cinerea, fasciata, lignaria, pauluccii, rufa, radiata… The shell of this species is white, with brownish radiating bands. Beachstormed, Donoratico, Toscana, W. Italy. 40mm. |
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The species in E. Donovan: The natural history of British shells, vol. III, London 1801, plate CVI.
« The general colour of the outside is a kind of milky white, delicately radiated with brown; within, the young shells are tinged with reddish brown, the old ones with violet. » |
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| The hinge on a pale specimen collected on muddy sand, Gulf of Beauduc, Camargue, S. France. |
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| The differences in the hinges between stultorum (pinkish shell) and corallina (whitish shell) in specimens from Mýkonos island, Kykládes, S. Aegean. |