Atactodea striata

Atactodea striata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Venerida
Family: Mesodesmatidae
Genus: Atactodea
Species:
A. striata
Binomial name
Atactodea striata
Gmelin, 1791

Atactodea striata, common name striated beach clam or striated little trough shell, is a species of surf clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mesodesmatidae.

Description

Atactodea is the abundant, small, relatively strongly concentrically ribbed mesodesmatid.[1]

  • Right valve
    Right valve
  • Left valve
    Left valve

Distribution

Found in atoll lagoons throughout the Indo-Pacific including Madagascar, India, Viet Nam, China, Philippines, Tarawa, Malaysia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Fiji, Japan (up to Kii Peninsula, Honshu), and Vanuatu.[2] It has been introduced in the Mediterranean Sea in the areas of Israel and Malta.[3][4]

Habitat

Found in sandy substrates in the intertidal zone.[5][6] This small surf clam may occur in abundance on high intertidal lagoon beaches.[7]

Human use

These clams are readily available by foraging the inshore tidal flats, mangroves and rocks. Archeological evidence indicates that Atactodea striata were used as a subsistence food by the Lapita, a Neolithic people of the South Pacific, at least as early as 4,700 years ago.[5] They are among the most common bivalves found in 2000 year-old shell middens in Papua New Guinea[8] and in more recent shell middens in Australia.[9] Called "Alure" in South Vanuatu Languages, Atactodea striata is harvested by the indigenous people of Vanuatu as a minor subsistence food. Atactodea striata is harvested, mostly by women, by gleaning intertidal zones. Women fishers walk the shoreline and shallows collecting Atactodea along with a variety of other common clams, bivalves, crabs, chitons, sea slugs, anemone and octopus.[10] On Tarawa, indigenous people harvest Atactodea striata as a preferred baby food because of its small size.[7]

References

  1. ^ Malacological Society of Australia (1970). "A living species of Austrotriton from New South Wales". Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia. The Malacological Society of Australasia (Number 1 ed.). Malvern, Vic. : Malacological Society of Australia. pp. 87–94.
  2. ^ Atlas of Living Australia. "Species: Atactodea striata (Striated Little Trough Shell/Triangle Shell)". bie.ala.org.au. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  3. ^ "Atactodea striata (Gmelin, 1791)". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  4. ^ "Indo-Pacific Molluscan Species Database at The Academy of Natural Sciences". clade.ansp.org. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  5. ^ a b "THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TANAMU 1 - A Pre-Lapita to Post-Lapita Site from Caution Bay, South Coast of Mainland Papua New Guinea. 2022.
  6. ^ Tan, K. S.; Kastoro, W. W. (2004). A small collection of gastropods and bivalves from the Anambas and Natuna Islands, South China Sea.
  7. ^ a b Smithsonian Institution Press.; National Research Council (U.S.). Pacific Science Board; Smithsonian Institution; National Museum of Natural History (U.S.); United States. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife (1951). "BENTHIC ECOLOGY AND BIOTA OF TARAWA ATOLL LAGOON: INFLUENCE OF EQUATORIAL UPWELLING, CIRCULATION, AND HUMAN HARVEST". Atoll Research Bulletin no. 481-493 June 2001. Smithsonian Libraries. Washington, D.C. : [Smithsonian Press].
  8. ^ P Swadling (1977). CENTRAL PROVINCE SHELLFISH RESOURCES AND THEIR UTILIZATION IN THE PREHISTORIC PAST OF PAPUA NEW-GUINEA.
  9. ^ Sally Brockwell; Patricia Bourke; Anne Clarke; Christine Crassweller; Patrick Faulkner; Betty Meehan; Sue O'connor; Robin Sim; Daryl Wesley (2011). Holocene settlement of the northern coastal plains, Northern Territory, Australia.
  10. ^ Secretariat of the Pacific Community (2003). VANUATU COUNTRY REPORT: PROFILES AND RESULTS FROM SURVEY WORK AT PAUNANGISU VILLAGE, MOSO ISLAND, URI AND URIPIV ISLANDS AND THE MASKELYNE ARCHIPELAGO (PDF). Pacific Regional Oceanic and Coastal Fisheries Development Programme. ISBN 978-982-00-0265-4.