Macoma calcarea (Gmelin, 1791)
A very common benthic bivalve mollusk of arctic seas.
Size
- Length to 70 mm. Adults usually 30-50 mm.
Color
- Outside – chalky.
- Periostracum light brown to dark brown, dull, wrinkled. Periostracum is absent, as a rule, in the umbones areas.
- Inside – white.
Habitat & Distribution
- Infaunal.
- On silty sand, often with gravel or stones.
- Sublitoral mainly.
- Widespread boreal-arctic.
Feeding
- Deposit and filter feeder.
Life cycle
- Dioecious.
- Development with pelagic larvae.
Page Author: Andrey Voronkov
Created: July 29, 2010
