Molluscan Research 26(2):
89-97; published 15 September 2006
Copyright © The
Malacological Society of Australasia
A new generic name for a burrowing
mytilid (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Mytilidae)
BARRY R. WILSON
Research
Associate, Western Australian Museum. Private address: 4 St Ives Loop,
Kallaroo. Western Australia, 6025. Email:
murex@starwon.com.au
Abstract
The large, sand-burrowing
Indo-West Pacific mussel "Modiola
" vagina
Lamarck has been placed in the
mytilid genera Modio-lus
and Botula
by different authors.
Dissection of freshly collected
live material has shown that it possesses long, extensible siphons
with complex internal structure. In this respect it resembles the
lithophagine genus Botula rather
than Modiolus. It
also resembles certain other siphonate
sand-burrowing mussels that form byssal cocoons and which are
variously classified at present in the
Modiolinae or Crenellinae. However, the species has a set of shell and
anatomical characters that distinguish it from
both Modiolus and
Botula, and
from other siphonate mytilid genera, warranting the erection of a new
genus to contain it. The affinities of
the new genus, Arenifodiens, are
discussed with the conclusion that assignment of it to one of the
present mytilid subfamilies is not
advisable until a full review of the family has been completed.
Full article (PDF;
300 KB)
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