Cross-Hatched Lucine (Divaricella quadrisulcata): Uniquely Embossed

This white circular shell has a surface pattern quite unlike any similar bivalve shell. There are tiny parallel ridges running diagonally across the surface. The inner margins (edges) of the bivalve are crenulate (scalloped). The shell itself is somewhat inflated and not very heavy. It may reach a length of 1 inch.

The mollusk inside the shell has a huge “foot,” a muscular extension of the body, that is six times longer than the shell.

The Cross-Hatched Lucine lives in fairly shallow surf from Massachusetts to the West Indies.

Notes

The shell pictured here was found at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
For more information on the Cross-Hatched Lucine see:
- R. Tucker Abbott and Percy A. Morris, Peterson Field Guides: Shells of the Atlantic & Gulf Coasts & the West Indies.
- Carol M. Williams, Beach Bountiful: Southeast.
Classification: Family Lucinidae; Superfamily Lucinoidea; Order Veneroida, Subclass Heterodonta.
Scientific nomenclature is subject to change, due to ongoing research. The above classification coincides with that published by the Conchologists of America, Inc.
Digital formatting is by Jonathan Mitchell.

Cross-Hatched Lucine:“An Excellent Choice of Pattern”

Notes

Cross-Hatched Lucine:
“An Excellent Choice of Pattern”