Relevant Synonyms Arca multistriata Forsskål, 1775 Pectunculus multistriatus Misidentification -  drawing: Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell equivalve, equilateral. Outline almost circular. Taxodont hinge with teeth arranged in an arc. Sculpture with radial riblets and weak concentric lines more apparent in juveniles, so that in adults the umbonal area appears cancellate. Inner margin crenulate. Periostracum persistent, with fine bristles. color : shell white with periostracum straw colored. common size : 16 mm up to 30 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS The small size, small dorsal area and the ligament which is confined to a small triangular shallow depression under the beaks. The only other species of the genus in Red Sea is a deep water one. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Suspension feeders, epifaunal, sedentary to actively mobile organisms. habitat : in sands and fine gravels, in shallow water (Oliver, 1992). In the Mediterranean, one shell dredged to a depth of 48 m, with gravel bottom.

1st Mediterranean record Israel, 1977 [1965]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Indo-Pacific and throughout the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez (Tillier and Bavay, 1905); recorded in the Suez Canal (Tomlin, 1927). Mediterranean: a single record in 1965 from Dor, Israel (Barash and Danin, 1977a). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Only one record based on one shell. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barash A. and Danin Z., 1977a. Additions to the knowledge of Indo-Pacific Mollusca in the Mediterranean. Conchiglie, 13(5-6): 85-116. Moazzo P.G., 1939. Mollusques testacés marins du Canal de Suez. Mémoires de l'Institut d'Egypte, 38: 1-283, Cairo [Limopsis multistriata p. 59]. Oliver P.G., 1992. Bivalved seashells of the Red Sea. Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 330 p.   Tillier L. and Bavay A., 1905. Les mollusques testacés du Canal de Suez. Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France, 30: 170-181. Tomlin J.R. le B., 1927. Report on the Mollusca (Amphineura, Gastropoda, Scaphopoda, Pelecypoda). Zoological Results of the Cambridge Expedition to the Suez Canal, 1924. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 22: 291-320. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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