''Venerupis decussata'' is a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

in the family

Veneridae The Veneridae or venerids, common name: Venus clams, are a very large family of minute to large, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. Over 500 living species of venerid bivalves are known, most of which are edible, and many of which are e ...

, commonly known as the cross-cut carpet shell.

Taxonomy

The species name ''Venerupis decussata'' (Linnaeus, 1758) is considered valid by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) with a range limited to the north east Atlantic Ocean. The Integrated Taxonomic Identification System (ITIS) also accepts the name as valid and states that it has a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

, ''Tapes decussata''.''Venerupis decussata'' Linnaeus, 1758
Integrated Taxonomic Identification System. Retrieved 2011-09-30. WoRMS accepts as valid the name of another species, ''

Ruditapes decussatus The grooved carpet shell, or Palourde clam, ''Ruditapes decussatus'', or ''Venerupis decussatus'', is a clam ( bivalve mollusc) in the family Veneridae. It is distributed worldwide and due to its ecological and economic interest has been propose ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758), a species with a world-wide distribution. It states that among the synonyms of this species are ''Tapes decussata'' (Linnaeus, 1758) and ''Tapes (Ruditapes) decussatus'' (Linnaeus, 1758).''Ruditapes decussatus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-09-30.

Description

The

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

of ''Venerupis decussata'' is robust and can grow to a length of 75mm (3 in). Each valve is broadly oval or rhomboidal, with the umbones set towards the anterior end. The posterior hinge line is straight and the posterior margin truncate. The anterior hinge line slopes slightly down towards the more steeply sloping anterior margin. There are three cardinal teeth on each valve, the central one on the left valve and the posterior two on the right valve being bifid (having two points). The sculpture on the shell is bold, with both concentric ridges and radiating rays. The annual growth lines can be seen clearly. The general colour is creamy white and there are sometimes faint purplish radial bands. The interior is glossy white sometimes with a yellow tinge and often a bluish shading near the hinge. The adductor muscle scars and the pallial line are distinct, the latter having a distinctive U-shaped pallial sinus extending half way across the valve.''Tapes decussata''
Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 2011-09-30. The animal itself is pale grey or cream coloured with the mantle fringed with white. The siphons are separate for all their length and have brownish tips where they reach the surface.

Distribution

The range of ''Venerupis decussata'' extends from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

southwards to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and north Africa. It is found buried in soft substrates, sand, muddy sand, gravel or clay, on the lower shore and at depths down to a few metres in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014682 Veneridae Molluscs described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus