Buttercup Lucine

Description:

The valves of the buttercup lucine, Anodontia alba, are oval to circular, inflated, and of equal size (Andrews 1994). A series of weak teeth forms a hinge that holds the valves together. Exteriorly, the shell is white with uneven concentric growth lines. A yellowish orange background and two muscle scars can be seen on the interior of empty shells. The anterior scar runs parallel to the pallial line where the mantle tissue is attached (Andrews 1994; Abbott & Morris 1995).

Habitat:

The range of A. alba extends from Bermuda and North Carolina to Florida, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, from the Yucatán Peninsula to Costa Rica and other locations in the Caribbean (Andrews 1994). Populations can be found in shallow waters around inlets, at bay margins, in hypersaline lagoons (see ‘Salinity’ below), and in nearshore waters over 1 m deep (Ruppert & Fox 1988). Moore & López (1972) suggested that A. alba preferred muddy or fine grain sediments, where they burrowed to depths of 22 cm.