Mactra corallina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Mediterranean and Gulf of Cádiz. The species can live in sympatry with Mactra stultorum, for example in te Gulf of Venice. Original taxon: Cardium corallinum. Synonyms: alba, candida, lactea… The shell of this species is white, with sometimes ivory radial bands (« obtusissima faciis lacteis » in Linnaeus). – 1-2m deep, Deltebre, Tarragona, Catalunya, NE. Spain. 47mm.
Young. La Conque, Cap d’Agde, Hérault, S. France. 22mm.
A specimen from Ayrolle lagoon, Occitania, S. France. 57mm.
The species is common in Mediterranean, where it could be confused with young M. glauca. But M. corallina is smaller and always more globose. Rochelongue, Cap d’Agde, 46mm.
Left: Mactra stultorum. Right: Mactra corallina.
The latter has the valves more inflated than in stultorum, and its summits are less rounded, with more marked lateral keels. On sand, out of Ayrolle lagoon. 44-48mm.

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