Philobrya meleagrina

Philobrya meleagrina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Subclass: Pteriomorpha
Order: Arcoida
Family: Philobryidae
Genus: Philobrya
Species: P. meleagrina
Binomial name
Philobrya meleagrina
(Bernard, 1896)
Synonyms

Hochstetteria meleagrina Bernard, 1896

Philobrya meleagrina is a small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Philobryidae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand, found around Stewart Island, The Snares, the Chatham Islands, and the southern part of the South Island.

Habitat

This species is found at depths of between 65 and 90 m.

The maximum shell height is 2.5 mm, width 2.5 mm, and thickness 1.1 mm.

The species was first described without accompanying figures by Felix Bernard under the name Hochstetteria meleagrina Bernard, 1896. One year later the same author transferred it to the genus Philobrya and supplied drawings.

The type specimens were dredged by Henri Filhol (1876) from sandy bottom at 35 fathoms (ca. 64 m) depth, in the vicinity of Stewart Island (around 46º50’S and 167º50’E). The types are housed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, France.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 29, 2010. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.