Nipponomontacuta actinariophila
| Nipponomontacuta actinariophila | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Nipponomontacuta | ||||||||||||
| Yamamoto & Habe , 1961 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Nipponomontacuta actinariophila | ||||||||||||
| Yamamoto & Habe , 1961 |
Nipponommontacuta actinariophila is a type of mussel from the lentil mussel family(Montacutidae). The species lives commensally with the sea anemone Halcampella maxima Hertwig, 1888 on the coasts of southern Japan. Nipponommontacuta actinariophila is the type and only species of the genus Nipponommontacuta Yamamoto & Habe, 1961.
features
The small, evenly-folded, moderately flared case is elliptical in outline. It becomes 4.1 mm long. The dimensions of the holotype are: 4.0 mm long, 3.0 mm high and 1.8 mm thick (in cross section). It is unequal-sided, the vertebrae , curled obliquely forward, lie slightly in front of the midline; they protrude beyond the dorsal margin. The dorsal margin is almost straight. The posterior dorsal margin is slightly longer than the anterior dorsal margin and merges into the broadly rounded posterior margin. The anterior dorsal margin starts a little deeper and merges with a (rounded) kink into the somewhat narrower rounded anterior margin. The ventral margin is rounded flat.
The ligament lies internally under the vertebrae. The lock plate is comparatively wide. In the left valve there are two diverging cardinal teeth, the front tooth being shorter but stronger than the back cardinal tooth. In the right valve, protrusions from the dorsal margin fit into the pits between the cardinal teeth and the dorsal margin of the left valve. The edge of the jacket is not indented. There are two sphincters. The inside edge of the housing is smooth.
The shell is reddish, especially the vertebral region is intensely colored. The surface is covered with the brown-yellow periostracum , which is particularly obsolete in the vertebral region and has mostly already peeled off. From the vertebrae some radial stripes run to the anterior ventral margin, which are especially marked by the periostracum. The ornamentation consists of fine growth stripes that become a little coarser in areas with growth interruptions.
Geographical distribution, habitat and way of life
The species has so far only been found in a few localities in the coastal waters of southern Japan , such as off Shirahama , Wakayama Prefecture , Honshū and Tomioka (today: Reihoku ), and Amakusa , Kumamoto Prefecture , Kyūshū . The type specimen was collected on a rocky coast; the depth is not communicated.
Nipponomontacuta actinariophila lives commensally with the sea anemone Halcampella maxima Hertwig, 1888. Commensalis between mussels and sea anemones are rare. In 2007, Lennie Rotvit, Jørgen Lützen, Åse Jespersen, Thomas Fox described Mysella gregaria, another species of lentil clams (Montacutidae), which unfortunately is associated with a sea anemone that is unfortunately not species-specific.
Taxonomy
Genus and species were established in 1961 by Torao Yamamoto and Tadashige Habe . The genus Nipponomontacuta has remained monotypical until now.
supporting documents
Literature
- Torao Yamamoto, Tadashige Habe: Nipponomontacuta actinariophila Gen. et Sp. Nov., a new commensal bivalve of the sea anemone. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 9 (2): 265-266, 1961 PDF
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tadashige Habe: Halcampella maxima Hertwig, host of Nipponomontacuta actinariophila Yamamoto and Habe. Venus, 31, 157, 1973 (not accessed).
- ^ World Register of Marine Species: Halcampella maxima Hertwig, 1888
- ↑ Lennie Rotvit, Jørgen Lützen, Åse Jespersen, Thomas Fox: Mysella grcgaria new species, a bivalve (Galeommatoidea: Montacutidae) commensal with an intertidal burrowing sea anemone from North Carolina, USA. The Nautilus, 121: 191-200, 2007 at www.biodiversitylibrary.org
- ↑ MolluscaBase: Nipponomontacuta actinariophila Yamamoto & Habe, 1961