Cross-hatched Lucine
Divalinga quadrisulcata (d’Orbigny, 1846)
Family Lucinidae
Cross-hatched Lucine is fairly rare on S. Hutchinson Island beaches.
Collected S. Hutchinson Island (January, 2021)
Inside view
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Family Lucinidae
Divalinga quadrisulcata
(d'Orbigny, 1845)
Cross-hatched Lucine
Shell size to 25 mm; small lucinid characterized by a sculpture of singular cross-hatched (criss-crossed), lines. Shell circular, moderately inflated, glossy white. R. Tucker Abbott indicated, in the 1974 edtion of "American Seashells," that this species "is used extensively in the shellcraft business." The shell in this photo was found by Gail Carr (from Silver Spring, MD) on the Captiva side of Blind Pass on January 23, 2014. That area just underwest extensive beach renourishment in the latter part of 2013.
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Cross-Hatched Lucine:
“An Excellent Choice of Pattern”
By Patricia B. Mitchell.
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.