Amethyst gem clam

Taxobox
name = Amethyst gem clam
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Bivalvia
ordo = Veneroida
familia = Veneridae
genus = "Gemma"
genus_authority = Deshayes, 1853
species = "G. gemma"
binomial = "Gemma gemma"
binomial_authority = Totten, 1834
synonyms = "Gemma purpurea" Lea, 1842

The amethyst gem clam, "Gemma gemma", is a small species of marine bivalve mollusk. It is a member of the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.

It is one of the smaller species of marine clam, reaching a length of only 5 mm [cite journal | quotes=no |author=Sellmer, G P |year=1967 |title=Functional morphology and ecological life history of the gem clam, "Gemma gemma" (Eulamellibranchia: Veneridae) |journal=Malacologia |volume=5 |pages=37–233] . The shell color is whitish or greyish and suffused with purple on both outer and inner surfaces.

This species is native to the Atlantic coast of North America, from Labrador to Texas [cite web|url=http://www.csc.noaa.gov/lcr/nyharbor/html/gallery/sggemma.html|title=Amethyst gem clam ("Gemma gemma") |author = NOAA |accessdate = 2006-03-25] , but it is now also found as an introduced species in some locations on the Pacific coast [cite journal | quotes=no |title=Climate change, species range limits and body size in marine bivalves |author=Kaustuv R, D Jablonski & J W Valentine |journal=Ecology Letters |volume=4 |pages=366–370 |url=http://geosci.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/pdfs/ELett2001.pdf |doi=10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00236.x] .

References