WoRMS taxon details

Macoma balthica (Linnaeus, 1758)

141579  (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:141579)

accepted
Species
Macoma inconspicua (Broderip & G. B. Sowerby I, 1829) · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Tellina balthica Linnaeus, 1758 · unaccepted (original combination)
Tellina balthica var. attenuata Jeffreys, 1864 · unaccepted (junior homonym of Tellina...)  
junior homonym of Tellina attenuata Deshayes, 1855
Tellina carnaria Linnaeus, 1758 sensu Pennant, 1777 · unaccepted (misidentification of Tellina...)  
misidentification of Tellina carnaria Linnaeus, 1758
Tellina fragilis (O. Fabricius, 1780) · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym (Invalid: junior homonym of...)  
Invalid: junior homonym of Tellina fragilis Linnaeus, 1758
Tellina neustriaca Locard, 1886 · unaccepted (synonym)
Tellina solidula Pulteney, 1799 · unaccepted (synonym)
Tellina zonata Gmelin, 1791, sensu Dillwyn, 1817 · unaccepted (misapplication)
Venus fragilis O. Fabricius, 1780 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
marine, fresh, terrestrial
(of Tellina balthica Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. <em>Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae.</em> , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 677 [details] Available for editors  PDF available [request]
Description A rather thick, broadly oval shell up to 30 mm long. The top of the shell is somewhere in the middle
of the shell. The...  
Description A rather thick, broadly oval shell up to 30 mm long. The top of the shell is somewhere in the middle
of the shell. The back is slightly acuminate. The shell surface is smooth with very fine concentric
growth lines. Its colour varies: white, yellow, orange to reddish. They burrow shallowly in fine, muddy sand bottoms and feed on food particles located on top of the sediment that they manage to suck up by means of their very long, individually separated stretchable siphons. [details]

Distribution M. balthica occurs from the upper part of the intertidal down to the shallow subtidal zone. In the study area it is...  
Distribution M. balthica occurs from the upper part of the intertidal down to the shallow subtidal zone. In the study area it is confined to the Wadden Sea, the Delta estuaries and a narrow zone along the coast. It has not been recorded from depths over 25 m in the open North Sea. The highest biomasses are found along the Dutch coast and north of Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. [details]

Distribution Macoma balthica typically occurs in the coastal zone of the Belgian part of the North Sea. In the 1976-1986 period only low...  
Distribution Macoma balthica typically occurs in the coastal zone of the Belgian part of the North Sea. In the 1976-1986 period only low densities were observed (up to 10 ind./m2) whereas densities up to 170 ind./m2 were found in the 1994-2001 period. In this period the highest densities seemed to occur near the eastern coastal zone. [details]

Distribution Arctic seas to off Georgia  
Distribution Arctic seas to off Georgia [details]
MolluscaBase eds. (2024). MolluscaBase. Macoma balthica (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=141579 on 2024-11-10
Date
action
by
2004-12-21 15:54:05Z
created
2016-06-12 07:47:41Z
changed
2021-12-07 08:18:49Z
changed

Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License


original description (of Tellina balthica Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. <em>Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae.</em> , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 677 [details] Available for editors  PDF available [request]

original description (of Venus fragilis O. Fabricius, 1780) Fabricius, O. (1780). Fauna Groenlandica, systematice sistens animalia groenlandiae occidentalis hactenus indagata, quoad nomen specificium, triviale, vernaculumque, synonyma auctorum plurimum, descriptionem, locum, victum, generationem, mores, usum capturamque singuli, pro ut detegendi occasio fuit, maximaque parte secundum proprias observationes. <em>Hafniae [= Copenhagen] & Lipsiae [= Leipzig], Ioannis Gottlob Rothe.</em> xvi + 452 pp., 1 pl., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13442285
page(s): p. 413. [details] OpenAccess publication

original description (of Tellina balthica var. attenuata Jeffreys, 1864) Jeffreys, J. G. (1862-1869). <i>British conchology</i>. Vol. 1: pp. cxiv + 341 [1862]. Vol. 2: pp. 479 [1864]. Vol. 3: pp. 394 [1865]. Vol. 4: pp. 487 [1867]. Vol. 5: pp. 259 [1869]. London, van Voorst. , available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55187
page(s): vol. 2, p. 376 [details] 

original description (of Tellina rubra da Costa, 1778) Da Costa, E. M. (1778). <i>Historia naturalis testaceorum Britanniæ, or, the British conchology</i>; containing the descriptions and other particulars of natural history of the shells of Great Britain and Ireland: illustrated with figures. In English and French. - Historia naturalis testaceorum Britanniæ, ou, la conchologie Britannique; contenant les descriptions & autres particularités d'histoire naturelle des coquilles de la Grande Bretagne & de l'Irlande: avec figures en taille douce. En anglois & françois. i-xii, 1-254, i-vii, [1], Pl. I-XVII. London. (Millan, White, Emsley & Robson). , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13116783
page(s): 211-212; pl. 12 fig. 4 [details] OpenAccess publication

original description (of Tellina inconspicua Broderip & G. B. Sowerby I, 1829) Broderip, W. J. & Sowerby, G. B. I. (1829). Observations on new or interesting Mollusca contained, for the most part, in the Museum of the Zoological Society. <em>Zoological Journal.</em> 4: 359-379, pl. 9. [January]., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27485275
page(s): 363 [details] 

original description (of Tellina neustriaca Locard, 1886) Locard, A. (1886). <i>Prodrome de malacologie française. Catalogue général des mollusques vivants de France. Mollusques marins</i>. Lyon: H. Georg & Paris: Baillière. x + 778 pp. , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10831012
page(s): 424, 594 [details] 

original description (of Tellina solidula f. normalis Middendorff, 1851) Middendorff, A. T. von. (1851). Mollusken, pp. 163-464, pls. 8-30. - <i>In</i>: Brandt, F., Erichson, W. F., Fischer, S., Grube, E., Ménétriés, E. & Middendorff, A. T. von: Reise in den äussersten Norden und Osten Sibiriens während der Jahre 1843 und 1844. Band II. Zoologie. Theil 1. Wirbellose Thiere: Annulaten. Echinodermen. Insecten. Krebse. Mollusken. Parasiten. St. Petersburg: Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 516 pp., 32 pls. , available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37047707
page(s): 262 [details] 

original description (of Tellina solidula Pulteney, 1799) Pulteney, R. (1799). Catalogue of the birds, shells, and some of the more rare plants of Dorsetshire. London, Nichols, 92 pp.
page(s): 29 [details] OpenAccess publication

original description (of Limecola solidula T. Brown, 1844) Brown T. (1844). <i>Illustrations of the Recent Conchology of Great Britain and Ireland, with the description and localities of all the species, marine, land, and fresh water</i>. Ed. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. <em>Drawn and Coloured from Nature. Second Edition, Greatly Enlarged.</em> , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10921172
page(s): 101 [details] 

original description (of Tellina balthica var. nivea Jeffreys, 1864) Jeffreys, J. G. (1862-1869). <i>British conchology</i>. Vol. 1: pp. cxiv + 341 [1862]. Vol. 2: pp. 479 [1864]. Vol. 3: pp. 394 [1865]. Vol. 4: pp. 487 [1867]. Vol. 5: pp. 259 [1869]. London, van Voorst. , available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55187
page(s): vol. 2, p. 376 [details] 

context source (Schelde) Maris, T.; Beauchard, O.; Van Damme, S.; Van den Bergh, E.; Wijnhoven, S.; Meire, P. (2013). Referentiematrices en Ecotoopoppervlaktes Annex bij de Evaluatiemethodiek Schelde-estuarium Studie naar “Ecotoopoppervlaktes en intactness index”. <em>Monitor Taskforce Publication Series, 2013-01. NIOZ: Yerseke.</em> 35 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] 

basis of record Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. <em>Patrimoines Naturels.</em> 50: 180-213., available online at http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/254404.pdf [details] 

additional source Abbott, R. T. (1974). <i>American seashells. The marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America</i>. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls. [October 1974]. (look up in IMIS) [details] 

additional source Bachelet G. (1980). Growth and recruitment of the tellinid bivalve <i>Macoma balthica</i> at the southern limit of its geographical distribution, the Gironde estuary (SW France). <em>Marine Biology.</em> 59(2): 105–117. [details] 

additional source Gilbert, M. A. (1978). Aspects of the reproductive cycle in <i>Macoma balthica</i> (Bivalvia). <em>The Nautilus.</em> 92(1): 21-24., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8273949 [details] 
 
 Present  Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio   Inaccurate  Introduced: alien  Containing type locality 
   

Unreviewed
Biology M. balthica has separate sexes. The main breeding period lies between February and May, with a second spawning in autumn. The free-swimming veliger larva has a pelagic life of up to seven or eight weeks. When growth is fast, longevity is about three years, but in slow growing populations specimens live for six or seven years (Fish & Fish, 1989; Zwarts et al., 1992).


The bivalve lives buried below the surface, maintaining contact with the overlying water by means of the inhalant and exhalant siphons (Brafield & Newell, 1961; Fish & Fish, 1989). M. balthica is capable of deposit as well as suspension feeding (Brafield & Newell, 1961; Wolff, 1973; Fish & Fish, 1989). M. balthica is able to withstand low winter temperatures. In the Dutch Wadden Sea its abundance increases after cold winters (Beukema, 1979; Beukema & Essink, 1986).


The species is an important prey item for birds such as the knot (Zwarts & Blomert, 1992; Zwarts et al., 1992). [details]


Description A rather thick, broadly oval shell up to 30 mm long. The top of the shell is somewhere in the middle
of the shell. The back is slightly acuminate. The shell surface is smooth with very fine concentric
growth lines. Its colour varies: white, yellow, orange to reddish. They burrow shallowly in fine, muddy sand bottoms and feed on food particles located on top of the sediment that they manage to suck up by means of their very long, individually separated stretchable siphons. [details]

Dimensions reaches 1.5 to 3.5 cm in size [details]

Distribution M. balthica occurs from the upper part of the intertidal down to the shallow subtidal zone. In the study area it is confined to the Wadden Sea, the Delta estuaries and a narrow zone along the coast. It has not been recorded from depths over 25 m in the open North Sea. The highest biomasses are found along the Dutch coast and north of Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. [details]

Distribution Macoma balthica typically occurs in the coastal zone of the Belgian part of the North Sea. In the 1976-1986 period only low densities were observed (up to 10 ind./m2) whereas densities up to 170 ind./m2 were found in the 1994-2001 period. In this period the highest densities seemed to occur near the eastern coastal zone. [details]

Distribution Arctic seas to off Georgia [details]

Habitat Known from seamounts and knolls [details]

Habitat M. balthica occurs in muddy sediments with a preference for relatively high silt-clay percentages. [details]

Habitat intertidal, bathyal, infralittoral and circalittoral of the Gulf and estuary [details]

Habitat Macoma balthica tends to prefer very fine sediments (median grain size < 200 μm) with high mud contents (> 20%). The maximum relative occurrence (80%!) is reached in sediments with a median grain size of 0-50 μm and a mud content of 50-60%. [details]

Morphology M. balthica has a broadly oval shell, somewhat inflated anteriorly. lt is up to 25 mm in length. The shell surface is smooth, sculptured with very fine concentric lines. The growth stages are clearly visible, usually marked by bands of colour. lt is very variable in colour, with shades of white, yellow, pink or purple, often drawn out in concentric bands. The interior of the shell is white or purple, or a shade of the external colour (Tebble, 1966; Fish & Fish, 1989; Hayward & Ryland, 1990). [details]

Reproduction separate sexes, usually not dimorphic in shell structure; fertilization occurs within the mantle cavity anf young hatch as pelagic larvae (generalized for group) [details]

Spelling often spelled M. baltica [details]
    Definitions

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LanguageName 
Danish østersømusling  [details]
Dutch nonnetjegewoon nonnetje  [details]
English hardshell tellinBaltic tellinBaltic macoma  [details]
French tellline Baltique [from synonym]telline Baltiquepetit macoma  [details]
German Rote Bohnerote BohnePlattmuschelHartschalige TellmuschelBaltische TellmuschelBaltische Plattmuschel  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål østersjøskjell  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk østersjøskjel  [details]
Polish rogowiec bałtycki  [details]
Swedish östersjömussla  [details]