Spondylus tenellus
| Spondylus tenellus | |
|---|---|
_(offshore_southern_Australia)_(24543235886).jpg) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Pectinida |
| Family: | Spondylidae |
| Genus: | Spondylus |
| Species: | S. tenellus |
| Binomial name | |
| Spondylus tenellus Reeve, 1856 | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Spondylus tenellus, the scarlet thorny oyster or southern thorny oyster, is a bivalve in the thorny oyster family distributed along the coast of Australia.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]Despite the name, thorny oysters are not oysters, but are their own family, being more closely related to scallops.[3]
Description
[edit]The scarlet thorny oyster is rose-scarlet, with pale areas and spines that grow out of the shell ridges.[4] Individuals range in size from 2 to 200 mm (0.08 to 7.87 in).[1] Spondylus tenellus often has a significant amount of marine growth on its shell, such as algae and sponges. This growth protects the thorny oyster from the effects of direct sunlight, with individuals lacking adequate encrustation displaying serious erosion.[5]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]The scarlet thorny oyster has been recorded on Australian coastlines generally but is particularly concentrated in the southeast, being the only thorny oyster species recorded in the southern coasts.[2][6] It can be found at depths of 10 to 150 m (30 to 490 ft), and lives attached to the substrate or free on the sea floor, favouring silty areas with a current.[7]
Life history
[edit]The southern thorny oyster is typically anchored to substrate by its right valve- for this reason, shells that wash up on the beach are usually left valves.[4]
The southern thorny oyster has a relatively fragile shell, and is prone to predation upon by muricid snails that drill through the exposed part of the right hinge plate.[6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 MolluscaBase. "Spondylus tenellus Reeve, 1856". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Species Spondylus tenellus Reeve, 1856 (Scarlet Thorny Oyster, Southern Thorny Oyster)". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
- ↑ White, Tom S.; Collins, Katie S.; Malcolm, Gavin (2026). "An illustrated catalogue of the type Spondylidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pectinida) in the Natural History Museum, London". Systematics and Biodiversity. 24 2561743. doi:10.1080/14772000.2025.2561743.
- 1 2 Cotton, Bernard.C; Godfrey, Frank.K (November 30, 1940). "Sea Shore Shells of South Australia". The South Australian Naturalist. 20. Field Naturalists' Society of South Australia: 53 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ↑ Lamprell, Kevin (2006). Spiny oysters : a revision of the living Spondylus species of the world. Brisbane, Qld.: Jean Lamprell. ISBN 1921054611.
- 1 2 Slack-Smith, Shirley M (1998). "Subclass Pteriomorphia: Order Ostreoida". Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis [Fauna of Australia. Vol. 5]. 5. CSIRO Publishing: 268–282.
- ↑ "Spondylus tenellus". seashellsofnsw.org.au. Retrieved 2026-08-02.