Panopea abbreviata (Bivalvia: Hiatellidae) in the western Atlantic Ocean, taxonomic revision and functional morphology

SIGNORELLI JAVIER; JOSE E. F. ALFAYA

MALACOLOGIA

INST MALACOL

Lugar: Philadelphia; Año: 2014 vol. 52 p. 279 - 293

0076-2997

Taxonomy and anatomy of the southwestern Atlantic geoduck Panopea abbreviata Valenciennes, 1839 is revised. Materials from several institutions as well as new living specimens collected from Argentine coast were studied. All type material of related nominal species was requested and illustrated. Descriptions of shell morphology, ultrastructure of the shell, hinge, ligament and mantle cavity organs were carried out. The symbiotic relationship with the nemertean Malacobdella arrokeana, attached to host mantle tissues, is mentioned. Panopea abbreviata is abundant in the northern Patagonian gulfs. It can be sampled in the subtidal zone, from 8 to 25 meters deep, deeply buried. It has a thick shell, large but shortened at the posterior side with exposed siphons covered by a dark brownish epidermis; a hinge plate characterized by a single cardinal tooth; an ultrastructure of the shell with three layers. Fused mantle only interrupted in the pedal gape, ctenidia and labial palps association belongs to the Category III and ctenidia type C (1). The only synonym that must be considered is Panopea antarctica. P. truncata, P. inferior, P. hauthali, P. coquimbensis and P. guayacanensis must be excluded from the synonymy list. This publication completes the full characterization of the South western Atlantic geoduck revealing the anatomy and updating the taxonomic status of junior synonyms by the illustration of all type material.