North California to Colombia; Caribbean, Florida to N. Brasil; Bay of Biscay & W. Mediterranean to NW. Africa.
Found on soft bottoms between 40m and 400m deep (Coan, Valentich Scott & Bernard, 2000).
Original taxon: Modiolaria polita. Synonym: lutea.
Modiola polita — « Shell thin, translucent, without sculpture ; epidermis pale yellow, smooth and polished. Umbos prominent ; hinge-line straight ; posterior end broadly rounded, compressed ; anterior end prolonged decidedly beyond the beak, narrow, rounded. » – A.E. Verrill: Art XLI in The American Journal of Science, third series, vol. XX, New Haven 1880, via BHL.
200m deep, on sand, Málaga bay, Andalucia, S. Spain. 42mm.
Annales de l’Université de Lyon, Paris 1896, via BHL.