Biodiversity & Conservation

Humpback scallop - Chlamys distorta

Chlamys distorta

Image Steve Trewhella - Chlamys distorta Humpback Scallop, Oban. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Chlamys distorta 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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Chlamys distorta is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Bivalvia Clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, and scallops
Authority (da Costa, 1778)
Recent synonyms Hinnites distorta
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Common on all coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Attached to hard substrata from the low shore to at least 100 m depth.
Text page icon Description Chlamys distorta is a small bivalve, up to 5 cm long, often with a brightly patterned and coloured shell. The valves are oval with 60 (35-50 in juveniles) or more radiating ribs and two prominent ears, one of which is larger than the other. Once an individual has become cemented to a hard surface, the lower (right) valve becomes deeply convex whereas the upper (left) valve is less so.
Identifying features
  • Valves with well developed ears.
  • Right anterior ear indented with a byssal notch.
  • Inequivalve: right (lower) valve more deeply convex than the left (upper) valve.
  • 60 or more radiating ribs in the part of the shell nearest the margins.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal 2004. Chlamys distorta. Humpback scallop. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 21/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2964>