Gafrarium pectinatum

Gafrarium pectinatum
Gafrarium pectinatum (from Pfeiffer, 1869: day. 18, fig. 10,11)
Systematics
Superordinate : Imparidentia Order : Venerida Superfamily : Veneroidea Family : Clams (Veneridae) Genre : Gafrarium Type : Gafrarium pectinatum
Scientific name
Gafrarium pectinatum
( Linnaeus , 1758)

Gafrarium pectinatum is a marine shellfish - kind from the family of clams (Veneridae). The species isnative tothe tropical Indo-Pacific including the Red Sea . She is a Lessepsian immigrant in the southeastern Mediterranean . The species is fished commercially in Southeast Asia and also in the Gulf of Suez.

features

The same-folding, laterally narrowed housing is up to 5 cm long. It is oblong-ovoid in outline, significantly longer than it is tall. Pfeiffer gives a ratio of length to height to thickness of 39:29:16 mm. The rear edge is elongated. It is unequal with very small vertebrae that are clearly in front of the midline (about a fifth from the front) and curled forward . The lunula is narrow and heart-shaped. It is brownish with a purple tinge under the vertebrae. The area is narrow and lanceolate. The ligament is sunk. There are three main teeth and one anterior posterior tooth in each valve. The sphincter muscle is approximately the same size. The surface line is not or only slightly indented.

The ornamentation consists of radial, nodular ribs that intersect with weaker growth strips parallel to the edge. In the rear part of the housing, the ribs are no longer radially, but slightly curved upwards, often interrupted. The ribs multiply through the inclusion of intermediate ribs. The ribs are therefore very different in width. The inner edge of the case is notched. The outside of the casing is whitish to cream-colored, occasionally with spots on the radial ribs. The inner surface is whitish with a cream-colored tint within the surface line. The ligament is tinted purple.

Similar species

Gafrarium pectinatum is very similar in size and shape to the species Gafrarium tumidum . The radial ribs are coarser, the nodes are coarser and the striae parallel to the edge are stronger. However, Markus Huber regards the latter species as a synonym for Gafrarium pectinatum .

Geographical distribution and habitat

The range of the species are the tropical parts of the Pacific and Indian Ocean including the Red Sea . From there, the species migrated into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal before 1900 . In 1905 a study showed the species in Port Said ( Egypt ). However, it remained a rare species on the coasts of the south-eastern Mediterranean. It was only found more frequently on the coasts of Israel , Lebanon and southern Turkey since the end of the 20th century and is now firmly established there.

Gafrarium pectinatum occurs in the tidal range and in shallow water up to a water depth of about 20 meters. The animals live buried in muddy and sandy gravel soils that are mostly overgrown with seaweed.

Way of life

The animals are of separate sex. There are two spawning seasons in the year, in spring and in autumn. They are sexually mature from a housing length of 16 to 20 millimeters (10 to 13 mm). The animals can live up to three years.

Taxonomy

The taxon was founded in 1758 by Carl von Linné as Venus pectinata . It is the type species of the genus Gafrarium Röding, 1798. The genus Gafrarium is divided into three sub-genera by Markus Huber: Gafrarium (Crista) Römer, 1857, Gafrarium (Gafrarium) Röding, 1798 and Gafrarium (Roemeriana) M. Huber, 2010. The Sub-genre breakdown is not recognized or used by all authors.

literature

• Peter Graham Oliver, Kevin Thomas (pictures): Bivalved seashells of the Red Sea. 330 pp., Wiesbaden, Hemmen et al. a., 1992 (p. 182)
• Argyro Zenetos, Serge Gofas, Giovanni Russo, José Templado: CIESM Atlas of Exotic Species in the Mediterranean. Vol.3 Mollusca. CIESM (Frédéric Briand, ed.), Monaco, 2003 (p. 284/85)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Ludwig Georg Karl Pfeiffer: The family of clams, Veneracae: together with an appendix, containing the Chemnitz'schen Lucinen, Galateen and Corbis. Systematic Conchylia Cabinet by Martini and Chemnitz, vol. 11, section 1., 302 pp., Raspe & Bauer (Ludwig Korn), Nuremberg 1869 [online at www.biodiversitylibrary.org] plate 18
2. ↑ ^{a b} Markus Huber: Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM, Hackenheim, ConchBooks, 2010 (p. 722)
3. ^ Ali AFA Gab-Alla, Saad Z. Mohamed, Mostafa AM Mahmoud, Belal A. Soliman: Ecological and Biological Studies on Some Economic Bivalves in Suez Bay, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, Egypt. Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 2 (3): 178-194, 2007 PDF (ResearchGate)
4. ^ Carl von Linné: Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus II. Editio decima, reformata. Pp. 1-824, Holmia / Stockholm, Salvius, 1758. Online at www.biodiversitylibrary.org (p. 689).
5. ↑ MolluscaBase: Gafrarium pectinatum (Linnaeus, 1758)