Biodiversity & Conservation

A bivalve mollusc - Nucula nitidosa - General information

Nucula nitidosa

Image Dr Sebastian Holmes - Nucula nitidosa Image width ca 1.5 cm.
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Distribution map

Nucula nitidosa recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Nucula nitidosa is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Marisa Sabatini and Susie Ballerstedt Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Bivalvia Clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, and scallops
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Occurs on all British coasts where the substratum is suitable.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found offshore on bottoms of fine sand, sandy mud and silt.
Text page icon Description The shell is subtriangular or oval, smooth, equivalve, inequilateral and 10-13 mm in length. The periostracum is a glossy olive or yellow-olive, whilst the shell is white/grey with bluish growth lines. The valves have bold concentric bands of grey/greenish yellow and fine radiating ribs. The anterior and posterior hinge lines are at right angles to each other. The margin of the shell is finely crenulate.

This review can be cited as follows:

Marisa Sabatini and Susie Ballerstedt 2008. Nucula nitidosa. A bivalve mollusc. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 19/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3918>