''Gigantidas tangaroa'' is a species of deep-sea
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
, a marine
bivalve
Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
in the family
Mytilidae, the mussels.
[MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Gigantidas tangaroa (Cosel & B. A. Marshall, 2003). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=888567 on 2020-12-31]
Habitat
This species was first described from northern
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, from
seep
A seep or flush is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer.
Description
Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their immediate above-ground location. ...
s off
Cape Turnagain
Cape Turnagain is a prominent headland on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, part way between Hawke Bay and Cook Strait, between the mouths of the Porangahau and Ākitio Rivers.
The cape was named by Captain James Cook in 1769. On ...
and
Cape Kidnappers
for "''the jawbone of Māui''"
* for "''the fish hook of Māui''" ,
, type = Cape
, photo = Cape Kidnappers.jpg
, photo_width =
, photo_alt =
, photo_caption = Looking northeast towards Cape K ...
at a depth of .
[VON COSEL, Rudo, and Bruce A. Marshall. "Two new species of large mussels (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) from active submarine volcanoes and a cold seep off the eastern North Island of New Zealand, with description of a new genus."The Nautilus 117.2 (2003): 31-46.]
Description
The
shell of this species is large, up to long, showing external dull white growth lines. Its anterior margin is narrow but evenly rounded. Its posterior margin is convex dorsally, its posterior angulation well-defined, situated above the
posterior adductor scar. Its periostracum is thick, hard and a dark brown colour. Its anterior adductor scar is short, and its
pallial line
The pallial line is a mark (a line) on the interior of each valve of the shell of a bivalve mollusk. This line shows where all of the mantle
A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that.
Mantle m ...
curves parallel to its ventral margin.
References
Further reading
*Jones, W. J., et al. "Evolution of habitat use by deep-sea mussels." Marine Biology 148.4 (2006): 841-851.
*Jones, W. Jo, and Robert C. Vrijenhoek. "Evolutionary relationships within the ''Bathymodiolus childressi'' group." Cahiers de biologie marine 47.4 (2006): 403.
*von Cosel, Runo, and Ronald Janssen. "Bathymodioline mussels of the ''Bathymodiolus'' (sl) ''childressi'' clade from methane seeps near Edison Seamount, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea: (Bivalvia: Mytilidae)." Archiv für Molluskenkunde: International Journal of Malacology 137.2 (2008): 195-224.
* Cosel R.von & Marshall B.A. 2003. Two new species of large mussels (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) from active submarine volcanoes and a cold seep off the eastern North Island of New Zealand, with description of a new genus. The Nautilus 117(2): 31-46
* Cosel R. von & Janssen R. 2008. Bathymodioline mussels of the Bathymodiolus (s. l.) childressi clade from methane seeps near Edison Seamount, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea: (Bivalvia: Mytilidae). Archiv für Molluskenkunde 137(2): 195-224
External links
*
ADW entry
tangaroa
Tangaroa (Takaroa in the South Island) is the great of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he exercises control over the tides. He is sometimes depicted as ...
Molluscs described in 2003
{{Mytilidae-stub