Mytilaster lineatus (Gmelin, 1791)
Mediterranean & Black Sea. Invasive in Caspian Sea.
Intertidal filter feeder, mainly in lagunar systems.
Original taxon: Mytilus lineatus.
Synonyms: confusus, crispus, scaber, squalidermis…
This is lamarck’s “Venitian Mussel”.
50cm deep, Laguna di Venezia, NE. Italy. 15-15,5mm.
Mytilus lineatus, fig. 6-7, in H. Küster: “Die familie der Mytilidae” Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet Bd.8Abt.3, Nürnberg 1889, via BHL.
 
« Mytilus lineatus : Mytilus. Testa trigona extrorsum dilatata : lineis angulatis decussantibus et confluentibus, cardine bidentato. […] Testa minuta ex flavo sordide virescente, intus dilute argentea. » – J. F. Gmelin in Caroli a Linné Systema Naturae tom. I pars VI, Leipzig 1791, via BHL.
Mytilus lineatus in “Histoire naturelle des vers”, Atlas tome II, Encyclopédie méthodique, Paris 1827, via BHL.

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