Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification Spondylus spinosus Schreibers, 1793  photo: D. Çeviker

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell solid, inequivalve, subequilateral; ovate. Cemented to substrate by the right (lower) valve. Attachment area usually small. Right valve more convex than the left one. Sculpture of numerous radial ribs with upstanding spines. Ribs dense with spins that are regularly spatulate, hollow underneath; interstices arrayed with smaller sharp spins. Umbones on top of a triangular cardinal area which is higher in the right valve. Ligament internal on the hinge plate. Inner margin crenulate. color : shell mauve or brown, ivory-yellow and yellow on ribs and spines. Umbonal area yellow-white. Internal blue-white. Crenulated margin with tones of dark brown and yellow. common size : up to 140 mm in length and 80 mm in height. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS It is difficult to identify the Spondylus species, they are similar in shape and color. Distinguishing characteristics are in ribs number and spines' appearance and color. Mauve or brown base color and yellow spins that are larger make S. multisetosus different from other Spondylus species. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Unknown. habitat : attached to rocks, corals and other debris.

1st Mediterranean record Turkey, 2001 [1992]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Indo-Pacific, Philippines. Absent from the Red Sea. Mediterranean: reported in 1992 from Turkey (Çeviker, 2001) near Tasuçu. ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Although the species is locally common (found in different sites in the Iskenderun region), its presence is disputed among specialists. It is suspected to be a variant of the established species Spondylus spinosus. It is widely accepted that the systematics of the genus needs revision. Until this is done the "questionable" status seems a good compromise. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Unknown; most likely through shipping. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS Edible.

KEY REFERENCES Çeviker D., 2001. Recent immigrant bivalves in the northeastern Mediterranean off Iskenderun. La Conchiglia, 298: 39-46. Lamprell K.L., 1987. Spondylus. Spiny oyster shells of the world. Bill-Backhuys, Leiden, 84 p. Lamprell K.L. and R.N. Kilburn, 1995. The recent Spondylidae of South Africa and Mozambique, with the decsription of a new species (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Pectinoidea). Molluscan Research, 16: 81-95.   Lamprell K., Stanisic J., Clarkson P., 2001. Spondylids from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean (Mollusca: Bivalve/ Spondylidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 46(2): 611-622. Oliver P.G., 1992. Bivalved seashells of the Red Sea. Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 330 p. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update : December 2003 ©ciesm 2002