>The smaller Donax species are hard to distinguish, to the point where I suspect that only a lady Donax can tell the laddies of different species apart. Or David Campbell in his molecular genetics lab!<
In fact, Dr. Laura Adamkewicz did some molecular work on Donax. For the U.S. east coast, variabilis seems to be one big happy species from New Jersey to Texas, but the slightly deeper water species (i.e., just subtidal rather than intertidal) are different on the Gulf coast versus the Atlantic.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
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That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa