MolluscaBase - Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758)

(of Venus mercenaria Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 686 [details] Available for editors

[request]

Descriptive notes

Distribution Newfoundland to Florida and Texas

Distribution Newfoundland to Florida and Texas [details]

Taxonomic citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2024). MolluscaBase. Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=141919 on 2024-11-22

Taxonomic edit history

Date

action

2004-12-21 15:54:05Z

created

Gofas, Serge

Licensing

The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

[taxonomic tree]

original description (of Venus mercenaria Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 686 [details] Available for editors

[request]

original description (of Mercenaria cancellata Gabb, 1860 †) Gabb, W. M. (1860). Descriptions of new species of American Tertiary and Cretaceous fossils. Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, Second Series. 4: 375-404, pls. 67-69., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36862263
page(s): 376 [details]

original description (of Mercenaria fulgurans Tryon, 1865) Tryon, G. W. (1865). Description of a new species of Mercenaria. American Journal of Conchology. 1: 297. [details]

original description (of Mercenaria rutila (Sternheimer, 1957)) Sternheimer, J. (1957). Une nouvelle espece de Meretrix (Mollusque Lamellibranche): Le Meretrix rutila n. sp. et sa variete rarilineata n. var. Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon. 26: 115-117. [details]

original description (of Mercenaria violacea Schumacher, 1817) Schumacher, C. F. (1817). Essai d'un nouveau système des habitations des vers testacés. Schultz, Copenghagen. iv + 288 pp., 22 pls., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/81329
page(s): 135; pl. 10 fig. 3 [details]

original description (of Venus cyprinoides Anton, 1838) Anton, H. E. (1838). Verzeichniss der Conchylien welche sich in der Sammlung von Herrmann Eduard Anton befinden. Herausgegeben von dem Besitzer. Halle: Anton. xvi + 110 pp. [Title page dated 1839, but volume actually published in 1838; see Cernohorsky, 1978, The Veliger 20(3): 299]. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11967421
page(s): 9 [details]

original description (of Venus notata Say, 1822) Say, T. (1822). An account of some of the marine shells of the United States. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 2(1): 221-248; 2(2): 257-276, 302-325., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36831411
page(s): 271 [details]

original description (of Venus obliqua Anton, 1837) Anton, H. E. (1837). Diagnosen einiger neuen Conchylien-Arten. Archiv für Naturgeschichte. 3(2): 281-286., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13478007
page(s): 284 [details]

original description (of Venus submercenaria K. van W. Palmer, 1927) Van Winkle Palmer, K. (1927-1929). The Veneridae of eastern America, Cenozoic and Recent. Palaeontographica Americana. 1(5): 209-522 [March 1927], pls 32-76 [February 1929]., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28433101 [details]

original description (of Mercenaria rutila var. rarilineata Sternheimer, 1957) Sternheimer, J. (1957). Une nouvelle espece de Meretrix (Mollusque Lamellibranche): Le Meretrix rutila n. sp. et sa variete rarilineata n. var. Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon. 26: 115-117. [details]

original description (of Venus mercenaria var. alba Dall, 1902) Dall, W. H. (1902). Synopsis of the family Veneridae and of the North American Recent species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 26 (1312): 335-412., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7612547
page(s): 377 [details]

original description (of Venus mercenaria var. subradiata K. van W. Palmer, 1927) Van Winkle Palmer, K. (1927-1929). The Veneridae of eastern America, Cenozoic and Recent. Palaeontographica Americana. 1(5): 209-522 [March 1927], pls 32-76 [February 1929]., available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28433101
page(s): 395 [details]

original description (of Meretrix rutila Sternheimer, 1957) Sternheimer, J. (1957). Une nouvelle espece de Meretrix (Mollusque Lamellibranche): Le Meretrix rutila n. sp. et sa variete rarilineata n. var. Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon. 26: 115-117. [details]

original description (of Venus mercenaria var. radiata Dall, 1902) Dall, W. H. (1902). Synopsis of the family Veneridae and of the North American Recent species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 26 (1312): 335-412., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7612547
page(s): 377 [details]

context source (Introduced species) Katsanevakis, S.; Bogucarskis, K.; Gatto, F.; Vandekerkhove, J.; Deriu, I.; Cardoso A.S. (2012). Building the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN): a novel approach for the exploration of distributed alien species data. BioInvasions Records. 1: 235-245., available online at http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu [details] Available for editors

[request]

context source (Schelde) Maris, T.; Beauchard, O.; Van Damme, S.; Van den Bergh, E.; Wijnhoven, S.; Meire, P. (2013). Referentiematrices en Ecotoopoppervlaktes Annex bij de Evaluatiemethodiek Schelde-estuarium Studie naar “Ecotoopoppervlaktes en intactness index”. Monitor Taskforce Publication Series, 2013-01. NIOZ: Yerseke. 35 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details]

context source (Bermuda) Jensen, R. H. (1997). A Checklist and Bibliography of the Marine Molluscs of Bermuda. Unp. , 547 pp [details]

basis of record Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213., available online at http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/254404.pdf [details]

additional source Davis, J. D. (1969). Polydora infestation of Mercenaria mercenaria. The Nautilus. 83(2): 74., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8515342 [details]

additional source Huber, M. (2010). Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM. (look up in IMIS) [details]

additional source Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A., A. Marchini, G. Cantone, A. Castelli, C. Chimenz, M. Cormaci, C. Froglia, G. Furnari, M.C. Gambi, G. Giaccone, A. Giangrande, C. Gravil, F. Mastrototaro, C. Mazziotti, L. Orsi-Relini & S. Piraino. (2010). Alien species along the Italian coasts: an overview. Biological Invasions. 13(1): 215-237., available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9803-y [details] Available for editors

[request]

additional source Zenetos, A.; Gofas, S.; Verlaque, M.; Cinar, M.; Garcia Raso, J.; Bianchi, C.; Morri, C.; Azzurro, E.; Bilecenoglu, M.; Froglia, C.; Siokou, I.; Violanti, D.; Sfriso, A.; San Martin, G.; Giangrande, A.; Katagan, T.; Ballesteros, E.; Ramos-Espla, A.; Mastrototaro, F.; Ocana, O.; Zingone, A.; Gambi, M.; Streftaris, N. (2010). Alien species in the Mediterranean Sea by 2010. A contribution to the application of European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Part I. Spatial distribution. Mediterranean Marine Science. 11(2): 381-493., available online at https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.87 [details]

additional source Lutaenko, K.A.; Furota, T.; Nakayama; S.; Shin, K.; Xu, J. (2013). Atlas of Marine Invasive Species in the NOWPAP Region. Beijing: NOWPAP DINRAC (Northwest Pacific Action Plan, Data and Information Network Regional Center). 189 pp. [details]

additional source Tubiash, H. S., Shuster, C. N., Jr. & Couch, J. A. (1968). Anomalous siphons in two species of bivalve mollusks. The Nautilus. 81(4): 123-125, figs. 1-3., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8528148 [details]

Present

Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio

Inaccurate

Introduced: alien

Containing type locality

From regional or thematic species database

Introduced species abundance in Celtic Sea (IHO Sea Area) : Rare [details]

Introduced species impact in United Kingdom (Nation) : Other impact - undefined or uncertain [details]

Introduced species impact in Celtic Sea (IHO Sea Area) : Other impact - undefined or uncertain [details]

Introduced species impact in United Kingdom part of the North Sea (Marine Region) : Other impact - undefined or uncertain [details]

Introduced species impact in North Sea (IHO Sea Area) : Other impact - undefined or uncertain [details]

Introduced species impact Chinese part of the Eastern Chinese Sea(Marine Region) Pathogen/parasite or carrier of a pathogen/parasite [details]

Introduced species impact Chinese part of the Yellow Sea (Marine Region) Pathogen/parasite or carrier of a pathogen/parasite [details]

Introduced species population United Kingdom part of the North Sea (Marine Region) Regionally established [details]

Introduced species remark in United Kingdom part of the North Sea (Marine Region) : localised fishery [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal in Celtic Sea (IHO Sea Area) : Fisheries: deliberate translocations of fish or shellfish to establish or support fishery [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal in English Channel (IHO Sea Area) : Shipping [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal in United Kingdom part of the North Sea (Marine Region) : Ships: general [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal in North Sea (IHO Sea Area) : Fisheries: accidental as bait
Originally imported as eel bait. Spread through UK via larval dispersal on water currents. Dumping and deliberate introduction attempts by fishermen and fishery scientists also influence its spread. [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal United States part of the North Pacific Ocean (Marine Region) Aquaculture: deliberate [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal Belgian part of the North Sea (Marine Region) Ships: general [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal Chinese part of the Yellow Sea (Marine Region) Aquaculture [details]

Introduced species vector dispersal Chinese part of the Eastern Chinese Sea (Marine Region) Aquaculture [details]

Unreviewed

Dimensions reaches 7.5 to 12 cm in size [details]

Distribution Newfoundland to Florida and Texas [details]

Habitat intertidal and infralittoral of the Gulf and estuary [details]

Importance used for chowders [details]

Reproduction separate sexes, usually not dimorphic in shell structure; fertilization occurs within the mantle cavity anf young hatch as pelagic larvae (generalized for group) [details]

alien species The natural range of distribution of the northern quahog Mercenaria mercenaria spreads along the east coast of the United States, but the species was intentionally introduced in France in 1861 for farming purpose. The northern quahog was later introduced into several other European countries with the same goal. Later on, the species was often transported by accident together with oysters. The first Belgian specimens were found in the Spuikom in Ostend around 1933. In the 1990’s and the start of this century, the species was reintroduced several times for farming purposes. [details]

Definitions

Language	Name
Dutch	Amerikaanse venusschelp	[details]
English	quahogNorthern quahoglittle neckshard shellhard clamcherry stones	[details]
French	quahogprairepalourde américaineclam	[details]
German	nördliche VenusmuschelNördliche Quahog-Muschel	[details]
Italian	quahog	[details]
Japanese	ホンビノスガイ	[details]
Portuguese	clame-redondaamêijoa-mercenária	[details]