Philobrya meleagrina

Taxobox
name = "Philobrya meleagrina"


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Bivalvia
subclassis = Pteriomorpha
ordo = Arcoida
familia = Philobryidae
genus = "Philobrya"
species = "P. meleagrina"
binomial = "Philobrya meleagrina"
binomial_authority = (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.

Description

The shell is small and thin, about as high as it is wide. The surface is smooth except for weak radial ridges. The periostracum has been weathered away in all examples seen.

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

* Bernard, F. 1896. "Diagnoses de coquilles nouvelles de Lamellibranches (genre "Condylocardia" et "Hochstetteria"). Bulletin des Naturalistes du Muséum 2:" [pp to come soon]
* Bernard, F. 1897. "Études comparatives sur la coquille des Lamellibranches. Les genres "Philobrya" et "Hochstetteria". Journal de Conchyliologie 1:" 1-47.
* Powell A W B, "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1