Donacilla cornea (Poli, 1795)

S. Brittany to Morocco, Madeira to Mediterranean & Black Sea. Mediolittoral in sand. Original taxon: Mactra cornea. Synonyms: ellipticus, elongata, radiatula… 3m deep, on sand, Barotti, Livorno, Toscana, NW. Italy. 13mm.

Erycina cornea in M. E. Gray: Figures of molluscous animals, vol. 5, London 1857, plate 318, via BHL.

At low tide, on sand, Málaga, Andalucia, S. Spain. 21-23mm.

Beach drift, Teseira del Forat, Port-Vendres, Eastern Pyrenees, Occitania, S. France. 20-20,5mm.

50cm deep, on sand, Marina di Vecchiano, Pisa, Toscana. 21,5-23,5mm.

Live collected in splash zone, half-buried in sand at the end of the day, western banks of Bouka beach, Aghios Konstantinos, Messini, Kalamata area, SW. Peloponnese, Greece. 16-21mm.

The animal is put up vertically in the sand, the anterior side upwards, the valves slightly open. Same spot. 15-21mm.

A simple wave can delete the sand bank and wash the animals ashore. Same spot. 15-17mm.

A juvenile from La Franqui, Leucate, Occitania, S. France. 1,4mm. Original pictures provided by S. Clanzig (FR). – (CC BY-NC-SA) –

A specimen from Port-Leucate, Aude, Occitania, in fish tank. Original picture provided by A. Bertrand (FR). – (CC BY-NC-SA) –

The species in G. P. Deshayes: “Hist. Nat. Mollusques t. I”, Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie, Paris 1844-1867, pl. 39.

The cardinal teeeth, the posterior muscular print and the deeply impressed pallial sinus in a specimen from Cap Ras, Llançà, Girona, Catalunya, NE. Spain.

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