Arca noae Linnaeus, 1758
Algarve to Sénégal, Azores to Mediterranean.
Synonym: gualtieri Renier, 1804.
Intertidal to 100m deep, attached to hard substract or Gorgonians by a strong byssus.
Specimens collected in crevice at 2m deep and on top of big rock in very shallow water, under Castle cliff, Cassis, Provence, S. France. 63-68mm.
Average pattern under periostracum. Ornamental item in Octopus nest, 3m deep, off the jetty, Cassis. 56mm.
Variants albida, atra, clausa, latipes, suprapectinata, transversa, typica, ventricosa…
In sand-gravel pocket among rocks, 4m deep, Agia Pelagia, Iraklio, N. Crete. 63mm.
8-15m deep, Badia de Pollença, Mallorca, Baleares. 59mm.
Giant and gerontic. Les Embiez archipelago, Sanary, Var, S. France. 94mm.
Saint-Tropez, Var, S. France. 75mm.
Original pictures provided by Eymard Gilbert (FR).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –
« Miss Pocock, whose liberal communication of British shells collected by herself, we have had such frequent occasion to mention in the progress of this publication, has obliged us with a small specimen of the Arca Noae found on the shores of Cornwall ; the smallest shell figured etc. » – E. Donovan, Natural history of British shells vol. V (1803) via BHL.
The valves are often covered with the orange-red encrusting sponge Crambe crambe (Schmidt, 1862). 30m deep, in the gulf, off Juan-les-Pins, Alpes-Maritimes, SE. France. Original picture provided by S. Omnès for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).
Arca Noae figured in J. G. Hidalgo: Moluscos marinos de España, Portugal y las Baleares, Madrid 1870, plate LXIX.
On rock, northern dike of Saint-Louis Channel, south of Plage-Olga, Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, W. Provence. 74mm.
3m deep, on rocky shore, Kárystos bay, south coast of Évvia island, E. Greece. 46-69,5mm.
Crambe crambe on Arca noae.
Les Moyadons Reef, west of Riou Island, south of Marseille, Provence, S. France. Original picture provided by S. Le Bris for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).
2m deep, western shore of Uvala Puč, Luka Gornji Molunat, Gruda area, Dubrovnik-Neretva Comitat, S. Croatia.
The large taxodont hinge of Arca noae. Same spot.

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