#veneridae

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#2940 - Placamen sp.

Probably the Rose-Rayed Venus Shell Placamen flindersi.

The genus is found from Australia, north through Indo-Malaya and the Phillipines, to Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Woodman Point, Perth. WA

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Wedding cake venus (Bassina disjecta)

Photo by Gabriel Paladino Ibáñez

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#2939 - Tawera lagopus - Banded Venerid

Endemic to the beachs of southern Australia and New Zealand, from the Eocene to the present.

Woodman Point, Perth, WA

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#2936 - Antigona chemnitzii - Chemnitz's Cockle

AKA Periglypta chemnitzi (a mispelling), Periglypta chemnitzii and originally as Venus chemnitzii.

The first field trip I did with the WA Naturalist's Club after my return from New Zealand last year was a beach walk at Woodman Point - I collected a quite nice variety of seashells, such as these one with its intriguingly serrated edges, which is found on seashores around a fair amount of the Indian, Western Pacific, and Australian shorelines, but doesn't seem to be very common.

That assumes it's actually chemnitzii, though - one of the resources I checked says that we don't get chemnitzii in Australia, and instead have laqueata instead.

Woodman Point, Perth, Western Australia.

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#3053 - Irus crenatus - Boring Venus Shell 

Found in shallow waters from the southern half of Australia.

The common name derives from the lifestyle, embedded in soft rock and hardened sediment, rather than any judgement on its nondescript appearance. It's likely that some supposedly related species such as crebrelamellatus are actually the same one, with the shell shaped by the substrate it grows in.

Leighton Beach, WA Naturalists Club Centenary Beach Walk, Perth, WA

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#2636 - Dosinia anus - Coarse Dosinia

AKA  Cytherea (Artemis) anus, and Dosinia horridus, tuangi-haruru, ringed dosinia, coarse dosinia, or coarse biscuit shell. A common surf clam around the islands of Aotearoa, buried in clean sand down to about 15m depth. The largest and heaviest species in the genus, occasionally exceeding 80 mm in diameter.

Timaru, Aotearoa New Zealand

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#3718 - Austrovenus stutchburyi - New Zealand Cockle

A DELIGHTFUL little mollusc - just look at those crenulations and ridges.

AKA New Zealand little neck clam, tuangi (North Island) or tuaki (South Island). Originally described in 1828 as Venus stutchburii by English surgeon, zoologist and entomologist William Wood. Over subsequent decades it was accidentally described several times again, transferred to the genus Chione genus and then finally to Austrovenus.

An edible saltwater Venerid clam, endemic to the harbours and estuaries of New Zealand, usually in soft mud or very fine sand. They live from the mid-tide level down to the subtidal zone, 2 or 3 centimeters below the seafloor.

At least two species parasitic trematodes infect the cockles, injuring their ability to burrow and leaving them vulnerable to hungry seabirds that are the next host in the parasite's life cycle.

As well as being collected for food, the shells were used as tweeezers for hair removal.

The earliest fossil record of A. stutchburyi is from the early Pliocene, a little over 5 million years ago.

Ōnawe Peninsula, Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula,  Aotearoa, New Zealand

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#3568 - Sunetta sp.

The generic epithet is derived from the Tamil word "Sunetti"  (சூனெட்டி), for the species collected for food there. First time I've come across a Tamil word in taxonomy. Although given invalid names include Cuneus, Cyclosunetta, Meroë, Sunemeroe, and Sunettina, and they were originally in Donax, I'm glad they finally settled on something.

Venerid clams found around the shores of the Indian Ocean, Asia, and Australia. Some of the species are vividly marked with wide deep purple rays, or wavy brown lines.

Port Kennedy Scientific Park, Perth