(?)Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758)

NE. America to Mexico, California, NW. Europa. Statements of captures in Alborán Sea are doubtful. The species lives deeply burrowed in silty sediments, from subtidal level down to 10-15m deep, often in estuaries. Original taxon: Venus mercenaria. above, a shell from English Channel, collected off Granville, Cotentin, NW. France. 90mm.

Synonyms: cancellata, fulgurans, kennicotti, rutila… Specimens from both sides of the northern Atlantic are similar by the size, the weight, the sculpture and the colour. Shallow water, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. 73-75mm.

A synonym is notata Say, 1822. Intertidal, Cocoa Beach, Brevard County, Florida. 40,5mm. Specimens from southern waters look different: smaller size, thinner sculpture, brighter colours, some pattern, no perio.

Above and below: a specimen, said to come from Alborán Sea. « 20m deep, in sand, Málaga bay, Andalucia, S. Spain. » 42mm. A possible location could be, in this area, near the mouth of the Guadalhorce, with its small lagunar system.

Detail of the prodissoconch and dissoconch. The American Northern Quahog was imported in western Europe during the XIXth century, for conchyliculture.

There are impotant differences of size, pattern and roughness between the tropical and northern variants of this species. Mont-Saint-Michel Bay, NE. Brittany, NW. France. 85mm.

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