Biodiversity & Conservation

A bivalve mollusc - Mysella bidentata

Mysella bidentata

Image Peter Barfield - Mysella bidentata. Image width ca 10 mm.
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Distribution map

Mysella bidentata 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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Mysella bidentata 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 Montagu, 1803
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Widespread around the British Isles but with very few records from Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Lives in muddy sand or fine gravel, in crevices of dead oyster valves, in the burrows of the sipunculid Golfingia, or associated with the brittlestar Amphiura brachiata.
Text page icon Description A very small commensal bivalve, up to 3 mm in length. The shell is slightly oval in shape with a smooth margin. The umbones are posterior to the mid-line. The shell is white or translucent with a light brown or olive periostracum. Each valve has a single anterior and single posterior lateral tooth. The sculpture of the shells consisits of fine concentric lines.
Identifying features
  • Very small (about 3 mm long).
  • Slightly oval in shape.
  • Light brown periostracum.
  • Closely associated with the brittlestar Amphiura brachiata. The pallial line is wide.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Michelle Carter 2008. Mysella bidentata. 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 20/06/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3846>