Biodiversity & Conservation

Gaping file shell - Limaria hians

Limaria hians

Image Sue Scott - Limaria hians. Image width ca 4 cm.
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Distribution map

Limaria hians recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Limaria hians 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 (Gmelin, 1791)
Recent synonyms Lima hians
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Patchy records from off Plymouth Sound, Skokholm, southern Isle of Man, western coasts and lochs of Scotland, and Mulroy Bay, Northern Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found from low water to ca 100 m on coarse sand, gravel, broken shells and stones. It may occupy 'nests' of byssus threads among rubble, under stones or in the holdfasts of laminarians. When abundant, the 'nests' may coalesce to form a carpet or reef over shell-sand, which may provide a substratum for kelps.
Text page icon Description The edge of the fleshy mantle bears numerous conspicuous, red and orange filamentous tentacles. The shell is thin, solid, equivalve and oval in outline, tapering towards the beaks, and usually about 2.5 cm in length but occasionally reaching 4 cm. The beaks bear an 'ear' like projection on each side, the anterior 'ear' being more prominent. The shell gaps on both sides. The shell is white in young specimens becoming whitish-brown with age. The shell bears clear growth steps and ca 50 radiating ribs that extend to a crenulate margin. When disturbed this species can swim actively using jets of water expelled by 'clapping' its shells together and a rowing motion of its tentacles.
Identifying features
  • Mantle edge bears numerous, conspicuous red and orange contractile tentacles.
  • Hinge line drawn out into 'ears'.
  • Shell, oval in outline, inequilateral, usually white and bearing ca 50 radiating ribs.
  • Shell gapes prominently on each side.
  • Builds byssus nests.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2008. Limaria hians. Gaping file shell. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3679>