Bivalves 

Family Kelliidae, Lasaeidae,

& Montacutidae  









Home > Northwest Shells & Marine Life > PNW Shells & Marine Life Photos > Bivalves >  Bivalves - Kelliidae, Lasaeidae & Montacutidae  

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Click on photo to enlarge.  Scale line in photo equals 1cm unless otherwise specified.
* Species which are commonly encountered on the beach.



Kelliidae
Kellia suborbicularis Kellia suborbicularis
Whiskey Creek Beach, WA           Slip Point, WA, intertidal
















 Neaeromya compressa
Victoria, BC
Neaeromya compressa (Dall, 1899)
Compressed Montacutid
subtidal, 10-700m          size to 15mm
south California to Point Barrow, AK
This species possibly lives commensally with Brisaster latifrons.  It is more compressed than N. rugifera.
(previous name - Erycina compressa)

Lasaeidae
Lasaea adansoni
Victoria, BC
Lasaea adansoni (Gmelin, 1791)
Reddish Lepton
intertidal to 10m          size to 3mm
Peru to SE Alaska in eastern Pacific; circumboreal and cosmopolitan
This tiny species is infrequently noticed due to its small size.  It is often tinged red and has a nestling life style.
(synonyms - Tellina adansoni, Lasaea rubra)  

Kellia suborbicularis (Montagu, 1803)
Suborbicular Kellyclam
intertidal to 20m          size to 25mm
Peru to central Alaska, New York to Greenland, the Mediterranean
to Iceland, and Honshu, Japan to the Kurile Islands
This is occasionally found intertidally.  The shell is thin and the
periostracum is thin and yellowish.  Likes to live inside bottles and
holes in rocks.  The shell may be almost round to oval.
(synonyms - Kellia laperousii, Kellia japonica, Mya suborbicularis)










Montacutidae
Kurtiella tumida
Tofino, BC
Kurtiella tumida (Carpenter, 1864)
Robust Mysella
intertidal to 973m          size to 5mm
northern Mexico to northern Alaska
This tiny clam is rarely found.  It is best located by digging a hole in the sand and sifting with a sieve.
(previous name - Rochefortia tumida)






 

     















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This page last revised: 5-25-2019
Neaeromya rugifera Neaeromya rugifera
          Sooke, BC                                             Victoria, BC
Neaeromya rugifera (Carpenter, 1864)
Mud Shrimp Clam
intertidal to 56m     north Mexico to south Alaska          size to 22mm
This is rarely found because it lives on a burrowing shrimp.  It exists attached to the abdomen of the blue mud shrimp or the setae of the bristleworm.  The shell is generally oval but the ventral side may also be incurved.  It is much more inflated than N. compressa.
(previous name - Pseudopythina rugifera)




Rhamphidonta retifera
Esperanza Inlet, BC
Rhamphidonta retifera (Dall, 1899)
Netted Kellyclam
intertidal to 25m          size to 15mm
south California to Vancouver Island, BC
This species is hard to find.  It lives in highly localized populations.  The shell is translucent with a shiny periostracum.
(previous name - Bornia retifera)