>OK all you big strong bivalve boosters. I've got these 1/4 inch valves from
>Ft. Fisher, NC, that resemble very much the illustrations for Astarte nana.
>Evenly-spaced ridges are there. But Abbott says Astarte has no pallial
>sinus. And when God says there's no pallial sinus I begin to doubt my
>beliefs in outward appearances. There's a strong obliquely-pointed pallial
>sinus in each of them.
>
>Well, are these just baby Dosinia? They're compressed but not that
>compressed and their umbones are prominent compared to adult Dosinia.
>Other possibilities?
>Someone may yet win the tiny frustrating bivalves sweepstakes!

Various venerids seem likely.  Transanella is shaped rather like Astarte,
but the concentric sculpture tends to be weaker.  Chionines, such as Chione
and Mercenaria have good concentric sculpture but less pointy umbones.  The
dentition of Astarte and venerids is distinct, too.

If they had been live, the DNA would point you to the right superfamily
with little difficulty.  To get the species, you would need to first
sequence comparative material, as the data are not yet available for
rapidly evolving genes for enough species.

Searching through the Veneridae should make you as happy as a clam about
the identification.  Bivalves aren't so bad!

Dr. David Campbell

"Old Seashells"

Department of Geological Sciences
CB 3315 Mitchell Hall
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill NC 27599-3315
USA

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919-962-0685
FAX 919-966-4519

"He had discovered an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus"-E. A. Poe, The
Gold Bug