Relevant Synonyms Chama ruppelli Reeve, 1847 [Ralli-Tzelepi, 1946] Chama corbierei Jonas [Moazzo, 1939] Chama cornucopiae Reeve [Tillier and Bavay, 1927] Misidentification -  drawing: Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell heavy solid, medium sized, strongly inequivalve. Lower valve (rv) deeply concave with large attachment area. Lv (upper) rather flat. Outline irregular, often subcircular. Sculpture of closely spaced lamellae which end as narrow spines but are usually worn out. Internal margin smooth but traces of crenulations may be present along the posterior margin. Big, rounded muscle scars. color : externally no coloration except in very old specimens when purple tinges appear between lamellae. Internally a deep purple around the margins. common size : to 40 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS The solid shell and the deep purple internal coloration are diagnostic features of typical P. corbieri. Details of dentition in the upper valve of a Red Sea specimen. photo: S. Xentidis / Goulandris Museum BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Epifaunal, immobile, cemented inhabitants of rocky shores and coral reefs. Chamids are stenohaline nearshore species. habitat : areas with little sedimentation; often cemented to massive rocks in exposed areas, from the midlittoral zone to a few meters depth (Bernard, 1976). Specimens of Pseudochama attach themselves to substrate by the right valve.

1st Mediterranean record Attiki, Greece, 1946 [no collecting date]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: endemic in the Red Sea; recorded in the Suez Canal (Keller, 1883). Mediterranean: successive reports from Greece, Attiki (Ralli-Tzelepi, 1946) and Israel, Yafo (Barash and Danin, 1973) as Pseudochama cornucopiae. ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Rare: an isolated record from Greece and one shell from an Israeli beach. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barash A. and Danin Z., 1973. The Indo-Pacific species of mollusca in the Mediterranean and notes on a collection from the Suez canal. Israel Journal of Zoology, 21(3-4): 301-374. Bernard F.R., 1976. Living Chamidae of the eastern Pacific (Bivalvia: Heterondonta). Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 278: 1-43. Delsaerdt A., 1986. Red Sea Malacology 1. Revision of the Chamidae of the Red Sea. Gloria Maris, 25(3): 73-125.   Ralli-Tzelepi Z.N., 1946. Contribution à l'étude conchyliologique du littoral de l'Attique (Grèce). Ph.D. thesis, University of Athens. 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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