Pandora inaequivalvis (Linnaeus, 1758)
British Isles to Canarias, to Mediterranean. On fine sediments, intertidal to 20m deep, in sheltered places. The shell morphology of the genus suggests an adaptation to streams.
Original taxon: Solen inaequivalvis.
1m deep, in muddy sand, Golfe de Beauduc, Camargue, S. France. 31-37mm.
Above and below: dredged in sand at 12m deep, Málaga, Andalucia, S pain. 29-31mm. Slender shapes.
Syns: margaritacea and rostrata Lamarck, solenoidea Brown.
A 28mm specimen with great margins.
Dredged in sand at 12m, off Estepona, Málaga. 31mm.
Estepona again. 26,6mm.
Specimen from English Channel, close to the form named albida Röding, although it is not known whether “albida” represents a true species, or something else.
Extreme low tide in sand, west of Les Ébihens island, Pointe du Chevet, St-Jacut de la Mer, N. Brittany, NW. France. 28mm.
The species is constant in shape and sculpture.
Top: extreme low tide, plage des Rosaires, bay of Saint-Brieuc, N. Brittany. 32-34-38mm. Bottom: beachstormed, Argelès-Plage, Eastern Pyrenees, S. France. 29-34mm.
Buried in fine muddy intertidal sand, among holes of Ensis directus (Conrad, 1843), Pellinec Cove, Port-Blanc, N. Brittany. 25-26mm.
« Tellina inaequivalvis : testa alba subargentea,altera valvula oblongo rostrata, convexa, altera plana. […] Testa longitudine pollicis transversi lactea, laevis, pellucida; sutura dorsalis recta excurrens in rostrum obtusum patulum. A natibus rostri inferiora angulus obliquus ut in Tellinis. […] Cardo dentibus duobus absque lateralibus. » – Chemnitz & Martini: Neues systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet, Nürnberg 1782, via BHL.
The genus is also constant in shape and sculpture.
Here, Pandora arcuata Sowerby 1835, dredged at 15-20m deep, off Guaymas, Soñora, W. Mexico. 39mm.

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