Bivalves of superfamily Galeommatoidea (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from western South Africa, with observations on commensal relationships and habitats

By

Valentich-Scott, Paul
Griffiths, Charles L. (Charles Llewellyn)
Landschoff, Jannes
Li, Ruiqi
Li, Jingchun

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1207

Pages

301--323

Subjects

Biodiversity , Commensalism , heart urchin , South Atlantic Ocean , Spatagobrissus mirabilis , Spatangus capensis , Symbiosis , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1207.124517

 

Abstract

The Galeommatoidea are a diverse but little-studied group of small bivalves, well known for the symbiotic relationships many species have with a range of invertebrate taxa. Four species collected from the Western Cape region of South Africa were examined and illustrated, providing new details on their habitat preferences, and depicting the mantle structure of live specimens for the first time. Brachiomya ducentiunussp. nov., is described herein, and an additional record of Montacuta substriata (Montagu, 1808) is reported from South Africa. Brachiomya ducentiunus and Montacuta substriata have obligate symbiotic relationships with different burrowing echinoids, while Kellia becki (WH Turton, 1932) and Melliteryx mactroides (Hanley, 1857) are free-living. DNA data and phylogenetic analyses are provided for three of the species.