Dinocardium robustum

Dinocardium robustum
	Shell of Dinocardium robustum from Florida at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Veneroida
Family:	Cardiidae
Genus:	Dinocardium
Species:	D. robustum
Binomial name
	Dinocardium robustum; Lightfoot, 1786
Synonyms
	Cardium maculatum Gmelin, 1791; Cardium magnum Born, 1778 (non Linnaeus, 1758) (synonym); Cardium obliquum Spengler, 1799 (synonym); Cardium obliquum vanhyningi Clench & Smith, 1944 (synonym); Cardium robustum Lightfoot, 1786; Cardium ventricosum Bruguière, 1789 (synonym); Dinocardium robustum vanhyningi Clench & Smith, 1944;

Dinocardium robustum, common name the Atlantic giant cockle, is a species of large saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Cardiidae, the cockles.

Description

Dinocardium robustum has a shell that reaches a length of 100-125 mm. This large and sturdy shell is obliquely ovate, with crenulate margins and about 32-36 rounded radial ribs present on both the inside and the outside. The valves are symmetrical with one another (equivalve). The basic color of the surface usually is creamy white, mottled with reddish-brown markings, while the interior is pinkish. This cockle burrows into the substrate by means of its strong foot, and like most bivalves feeds by filtering the water for plankton.

Distribution

This species can be found along the western Atlantic coast of North America, in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean Sea.

References

External links

Media related to Dinocardium robustum at Wikimedia Commons
Shellmuseum
Oceanica

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