Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries and for a world without hunger Department

Species Fact Sheets gallina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Chamelea gallina: (click for more) Chamelea gallina: (click for more)

Synonyms gallina Linnaeus, 1758: (original description). Dosinia exoleta Linnaeus, 1758 Venus striatula da Costa, 1778 Venus (Chamelea) striatula , , (of authors).

FAO Names En - Striped venus, Fr - Petite praire, Sp - Chirla. 3Alpha Code: SVE Taxonomic Code: 3161100105

Diagnostic Features Shell solid, thick, equivalve; inequilateral, beaks in front of the midline; broadly triangular in outline with a round anterior margin but tending to be slightly drawn out posteriorly. Periostracum thin. Ligament narrow, exposed, not extensive, reaching one-third of the way to the posterior margin. Lunule short, heart-shaped, light brown with fine radiate ridges. Escutcheon elliptical, extensive, reaching almost to the posterior margin; with fine radiating lines. Sculpture of numerous concentric ridges, appoximately 14-16, not normally overlapping each other: in the depressions between each ridge there are fine concentric lines. The concentric ridges are closely packed near the ventral margin. Three cardinal teeth in each valve. No laterals. Pallial sinus not deep. Inner margin crenulate from below the beak forward to the posterior margin of the escutcheon. Colour dirty white, cream or pale yellow, occasionally polished, usually with three red-brown rays of varying width, radiating from the umbones, these may occasionally merge into each other or break up into irregular linear patterns.

Geographical Distribution

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Along the Eastern Atlantic coasts, from Norway, Lofoten and British Is., Portugal, Morocco and to and the Canary Is. Mediterranean, including the Black Sea. Abundant in the Adriatic.

Habitat and Biology Inhabits bottoms of clean and muddy sand,between 5 and 20 m deep.Epibenthic suspension feeder, ingesting a variety of algae, , and small detrital particles.

Size Maximum length is 5 cm; common 2.5 - 3.5 cm.

Interest to Fisheries Industrial, semi-industrial or artesanal industry; aquaculture (Italy). Caught with dredges and hackles, occasionally with bottom trawls . The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 45 012 t. The countries with the largest catches were Italy (36 462 t) and Turkey (3 585 t). Marketed fresh, frozen and canned; eaten steamed.

FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Global Capture Production for species (tonnes) Source: FAO FishStat 100k

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Chamelea gallina

Global Aquaculture Production for species (tonnes) Source: FAO FishStat 150

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Chamelea gallina

Local Names Catalan : Copinya , escopinya maltesa , Rosellona . English : Luttleneck , Striped venus . French : Galínette , Poule . German : Venusmuschel . Greek : Kydóni . Hebrew : Venus galit . Italian : Vongola . Maltese : Daina . Spanish : Chirla .

FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Remarks Some authors consider Chamelea striatula (da Costa, 1778) as an Atlantic subspecies of Chamelea gallina (Linnaeus, 1758) while others believe it does not even deserve a subspecific status.

Bibliography Alegre, M., J. Lleonart & J. Veny. - 1992Espècies Pesqueres d'interès comercial. Nomenclatura oficial catalana. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura, DARP, TERMCAT. 64 pp. Bini, G. - 1965 Catálogo de los nombres de peces, moluscos y crustáceos de importancia comercial en el Mediterráneo., RomeFAO: Rome: i-xv +: 407 pp. Poppe, G.T. & Y. Goto. - 1993European Seashells.Verlag Christa Hemmen, darmstadt, Germany, vol. II: 221 pp. Poutiers, J.M. - 1987 Ostreidae. In: W. Fischer; M.-L. Bauchot (eds.) Fiches FAO d'Identification des espèces pour les besoins de la pêche. (Révision 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de Pêche 37. Vol. I. Végétaux et Invertébres.Rome, FAO. 447-452 pp. Tebble, N. - 1966 British Bivalve Seashells. A Handbook for Identification, London Trusties of the British Nuseum (Natural History): 212 pp. Vera, J. - 1992 Diccionario multilingüe de especies marinas para el mundo hispano.Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Secretaria General Técnica. 1282 pp.

FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department