''Leptopecten latiauratus'', common name the kelp scallop, is a small saltwater clam, a bivalve

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

Pectinidae Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

, the scallops. It lives in water up to 850 feet deep. Like other scallops it has many small primitive eyes around the rim of its mantle and escapes predators by jet propulsion. Other common names include the wide-eared scallop, broad-eared pecten, kelp-weed scallop. The species was formerly known as ''Pecten monotimeris''.Beachcomber's Guide to Seashore Life of California, p132, J. Duane Sept, Harbour Publishing, 2002

Description

Shell

The shell can be three to five cm in size. As is the case in most scallops, the shell is mostly circular with two flat auricles or ears that extend off the hinge. It usually has ridges that radiate out from the hinge toward the mantle. Some also have ribs perpendicular to the ridges. The shell is extremely thin compared to most bivalves, with one side extending out more than the other. Orange, brown, red, and black are some of the more common shell colors. Often there some white mixed in. The color may be in a zigzag pattern.

Soft parts

Around the edges of the mantle are about 20 eyes on top and another twenty on the bottom. The animal also has approximately 50, 1–5 mm, somewhat transparent tentacles on each side of the rim of the mantle. This species has not been extensively studied, but based on what is known about the Queen Scallop (''

Aequipecten opercularis The queen scallop (''Aequipecten opercularis'') is a medium-sized species of scallop, an edible marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pectinidae, the scallops. It is found in the northeast Atlantic and is important in fisheries. Description A ...

''), a different member of the family Pectinidae, the tentacles may contain chemical sensors used to detect predators

Ecology

Distribution and habitat

This species occurs from Point Reyes, California south to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, and Gulf of California, Mexico. This scallop lives from the low intertidal zone to a depth of 250m (850 feet). It attaches to kelp, hard objects (rocks, oil well rigs) or invertebrates such as

hydroids Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish. Some hydroids such as the freshwater '' Hydra'' are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate. When these produce buds ...

using byssal threads.

Predators

These scallops are eaten by perch and probably by other fish species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014382 Pectinidae Bivalves described in 1837