Observations on Sphenia binghami Turton

Extract

The family Myidae is represented in British seas by the two large and well-known species, Mya arenaria L. and M. truncata L., which burrow deeply into muddy sand and into stiff mud or clay respectively, and by the much smaller Sphenia binghami Turton. Interest in members of this family of Eulamellibranchia was aroused during 1949 when studying two species which are common along the coast of California, namely Platyodon cancellatus (Conrad) and Cryptomya californica (Conrad). These differ most interestingly in habitat. The former bores into soft rocks between tide marks, and the latter, although practically devoid of siphons, burrows deep in the mud of tidal estuaries, always in association with burrows made by various large invertebrates. The species most usually involved is Callianassa californiensis, a large anomuran prawn (McGinitie, 1935). The almost sessile siphons open into the sides of the burrows. Accounts of both species have been prepared for publication in California.