A fossil species found living off southern California, with notes on the genus Cymatioa (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Galeommatoidea)

By

Valentich-Scott, Paul
Goddard, Jeffrey H. R.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1128

Pages

53--62

Subjects

commensal , intertidal zone , Pleistocene , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1128.95139

 

Abstract

A small bivalve mollusk previously only known from the Pleistocene of Los Angeles County has recently been found living intertidally near Santa Barbara, California. The bivalve has been determined to be Cymatioa cooki (Willett, 1937), a member of the Galeommatoidea J.E. Gray, 1840. We document the habitat for the newly discovered C. cooki, and compare it to C. electilis (Berry, 1963), the other extant member of this genus recorded from the region. Cymatioa cooki is rare, and while many galeommatoid species have been shown to be commensal with other invertebrates, we have been unable to determine any specific commensal relationships for it.