Sylvain Le Bris, Frankreich
Info
Chama gryphoides is a sessile mussel that lives in European waters and is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean as far south as Senegal in West Africa.
The shell and decorations of Chama gryphoides consist entirely of aragonite. The mussel can be recognized by its irregular, concentric “ribs,” the white color of its shell, and its short, unstriped spines.
The shell is whitish to beige, thick and heavy, almost oval and asymmetrical. The left shell is large and deep and firmly attached to the solid surface, while the right shell is flatter and has thin radial ribs and spines that are quite irregular and arranged in concentric rows.
It lives in the Mediterranean Sea on solid substrates, including Mediterranean stone coral colonies and other biogenic formations, in infralittoral and circalittoral belts.
Information on the size of the mussel varies, but it can be agreed that only very old animals can exceed 3 cm in size.
Scientific data has only confirmed fossilized specimens measuring 8-10 cm.
Chama gryphoides has no economic significance for humans, but has become the focus of scientific interest in recent years.
“The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 initiated the migration and transport of species from the Indo-Pacific to the Mediterranean Sea. This led to a rapid and unprecedented biological invasion in the sea, especially in the Levantine Sea (southeastern Mediterranean, Galil 2000, 2008; Rilov and Galil 2009). Hundreds of species – mainly mollusks, fish, crustaceans, polychaetes, and macrophytes – have settled along the Levantine coasts, including 40 species of invasive mussels that have formed populations (Galil 2000; Zenetos et al. 2010; Albano et al. 2021).”
These invaders include a Pacific relative of Chama gryphoides, Chama pacifica Broderip, 1835, which seems to feel extremely at home in the traditional habitats of the common razor clam.
Chama pacifica has now outnumbered the native razor clam in the western Mediterranean.
Our special thanks for the first photo of Chama gryphoides go to Syvain Le Bris from France.
Synonyms:
Chama cavernosa Risso, 1826 · unaccepted
Chama sessilis Bruguière, 1792 · unaccepted
Chama unicornis Bruguière, 1792 sensu R. A. Philippi, 1836 · unaccepted > misapplication
The shell and decorations of Chama gryphoides consist entirely of aragonite. The mussel can be recognized by its irregular, concentric “ribs,” the white color of its shell, and its short, unstriped spines.
The shell is whitish to beige, thick and heavy, almost oval and asymmetrical. The left shell is large and deep and firmly attached to the solid surface, while the right shell is flatter and has thin radial ribs and spines that are quite irregular and arranged in concentric rows.
It lives in the Mediterranean Sea on solid substrates, including Mediterranean stone coral colonies and other biogenic formations, in infralittoral and circalittoral belts.
Information on the size of the mussel varies, but it can be agreed that only very old animals can exceed 3 cm in size.
Scientific data has only confirmed fossilized specimens measuring 8-10 cm.
Chama gryphoides has no economic significance for humans, but has become the focus of scientific interest in recent years.
“The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 initiated the migration and transport of species from the Indo-Pacific to the Mediterranean Sea. This led to a rapid and unprecedented biological invasion in the sea, especially in the Levantine Sea (southeastern Mediterranean, Galil 2000, 2008; Rilov and Galil 2009). Hundreds of species – mainly mollusks, fish, crustaceans, polychaetes, and macrophytes – have settled along the Levantine coasts, including 40 species of invasive mussels that have formed populations (Galil 2000; Zenetos et al. 2010; Albano et al. 2021).”
These invaders include a Pacific relative of Chama gryphoides, Chama pacifica Broderip, 1835, which seems to feel extremely at home in the traditional habitats of the common razor clam.
Chama pacifica has now outnumbered the native razor clam in the western Mediterranean.
Our special thanks for the first photo of Chama gryphoides go to Syvain Le Bris from France.
Synonyms:
Chama cavernosa Risso, 1826 · unaccepted
Chama sessilis Bruguière, 1792 · unaccepted
Chama unicornis Bruguière, 1792 sensu R. A. Philippi, 1836 · unaccepted > misapplication
