#solecurtidae

[saritawolf]

Stout Tagelus shell (Tagelus plebeius) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[drhoz]

#2769 - Solecurtus chattonensis

Synonyms for the genus include Adasius, Macha, Psammosolen and Solenocurtus.

Another fossil mollusc from the Late Oligocene. But the genus is still around, and living species outnumber the known extinct ones.

The best known species is probably the Rosy Razor Clam Solecurtus strigilatus, found in J-shaped burrows 50cm deep, in sandy seafloors of the Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic, from near the shore to about 200m depth. Unusually for a bivalve, their soft body parts are too big to fit between the shells, and their main defence against predators is to burrow rapidly. They can also shed the tips of their inhalent and exhalent siphons, which pulse and twitch to distract whatever is trying to eat them.

University of Otago Geology Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoan New Zealand.