Elegant Dosinia (Dosinia elegans Conrad, 1846): Compact Beauty

The Elegant Dosinia, Dosinia elegans, is a lovely white bivalve which may reach a diameter of 3 inches. Its surface is marked with numerous uniformly-spaced concentric ridges, though the lines are not as close together as are those of the quite similar Disk Dosinia, Dosinia discus. The Elegent Dosinia has slightly broader ridges than does the Disk Dosinia, with about 10 ridges to a centimeter compared to about 20 ridges on the Disk Dosinia.

The Elegant Dosinia is almost circular in shape, except for its small beaks, which point anteriorally. The bivalve is very compressed — that is to say, the two halves of the bivalve fit together rather flat, almost like a ladies' compact. The periostracum, or shell covering, is translucent, grayish, and varnish-like.

Notes

The specimens pictured here were found at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
For more information on the Elegant Dosinia see:
- R. Tucker Abbott and Percy A. Morris, Peterson Field Guides: Shells of the Atlantic & Gulf Coasts & the West Indies.
- Harold A. Rehder, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells.
- Carol M. Williams, Beach Bountiful: Southeast.
Classification: Family Veneridae; Superfamily Veneroidea; Order Veneroida; Subclass Heterodonta; Class Bivalvia.
Scientific nomenclature is subject to change, due to ongoing research. The above classification corresponds to that published by the Conchologists of America, Inc.
Digital formatting is by Jonathan Mitchell.

Elegant Dosinia: Pretty All Around

Notes

Elegant Dosinia:
Pretty All Around