Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  photo: D. Çeviker

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell solid, medium sized. Shape oyster-like, very variable, depending on the substratum and biotope with outline irregular, almost circular to oval. Sculpture of strong radial plications. Both valves convex. Inner margins with plications. Two different types. One with sculpture made of 4-8 plications. Second with a prominent ridge in the middle and about 12 plications. color : externally white with shades of pink to blue. Internally reflecting the external color and also in tones of green. common size : Mediterranean specimens up to 50 mm in length, but usually about 30 x 25 mm. Arabian Sea up to 60 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Similar to Saccostrea cucculata but smaller in size. Both species bear lamellar scales on the outer surface of valves. The diagnostic feature in Saccostrea is the purple-black zone in the periphery of the inner margin. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Epifaunal, suspension feeders, live cemented to rocks/hard substrata. D. frons is often fouled. Its large size and passive mobility probably precludes overgrowth, which can lead to suffocation. habitat : attached to rocks, corals or to Spondylus; the second type (as described above) lives in deeper waters.

1st Mediterranean record Southeastern Turkey, 2001 [1998]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: original distribution in the Indo-Pacific, present in the Arabian Sea, Red Sea (Dekker and Orlin, 2000). Mediterranean: known only from the Iskenderun area, Southeastern Turkey (Çeviker, 2001). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Well established in the Iskenderun area: according to Mr. D. Çeviker (pers. comm.) the species occurs almost everywhere along with Sondylus spp. and Chama pacifica. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Unknown. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barnes D.K.A., 2001. The contribution of secondary space to benthic taxon richness of a coral reef: colonization of Dendrostrea frons (Mollusca). P.S.Z.N. Marine Ecology, 22(3): 189-200. Barnes D.K.A. and Clarke A., 1995. Epibiotic communities on sublittoral macroinvertebrates at Signy Island, Antarctica. Journal of Marine Biological Association U.K., 75: 689-703. Çeviker D., 2001. Recent immigrant bivalves in the northeastern Mediterranean off Iskenderun. La Conchiglia, 298: 39-46.   Dekker H. and Orlin Z., 2000. Check list of Red Sea Mollusca. Spirula, 47(suppl.): 1-46. Oliver P.G., 1992. Bivalved seashells of the Red Sea. Christa Hemmen, Wiesbadenand National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 330 p. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update : December 2003 ©ciesm 2002