The name refers to the ancient name of the country, Illyria, a kingdom founded along the eastern coast of Adriatic.
« Some time ago, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Centre for Marine Research of Rovinj, Istra, Jugoslavia, kindly sent me for inspection some shell grit samples collected during the dredging campaigns of the ship “Vila Velebita” from August 1973 to August 1974 along the northern part of the Dalmatian coast from Zadar to Rijeka. The average depth of the dredgings ranged from about 60 to about 100 metres. […] The relatively flat and clearly rostrate shell is provided with widely spaced concentric furrows. The umbo is situated slightly anterior of the middle. There is an inconspicuous lunule and a relatively narrow and flat escutcheon. » – F. Carrozza: “A new marine bivalve species from the Mediterranean: Nuculana illirica sp. nov.” Basteria 51 (4-6).
80m deep, in muddy sand, Saronic Gulf, Greece. 3,6mm.
« The hinge has 20-22 posterior and 19-21 anterior teeth. […] N. illirica is most similar to N. commutata, which differs, however, by shells which are: relatively broader (7-8mm long, 3mm high and 5mm broad); less rostrate; provided with about twice as many concentric furrows; provided with 15-16 teeth in both parts of the hinge, and provided with a more prominent lunule and escutcheon. » – Ibid.
80m deep, hvarski kanal, Split-Dalmatia Comitat, S. Croatia. 4,5mm. The species is common in the channel.
