Clicky

Pholadomya candida Sowerby, 1823

Caribbean piddock-clam

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

 

 

Conservation Status

Last record: 1800's (Díaz & Borrero, 1995); before 1842 (Díaz et al., 2009)

Rediscovered in: 1964 or before (fresh shell) (Olsson, 1964); 1981 or before (empty shells) (Gibson-Smith & Gibson-Smith, 1981); mid-August 1990 (fresh specimen) (Díaz & Borrero, 1995); September 1994 (fresh specimen) (Díaz & Borrero, 1995); September/October 1994 (fresh specimen) (Díaz & Borrero, 1995); November 2004 (living specimen; photo taken) (Díaz et al., 2009); c.2007 (recognition; photo examined) (Díaz et al., 2009)

 

Freshly dead material had been encountered several times (see Díaz & Borrero, 1995) prior to the discovery of a living individual (Díaz et al., 2009).

 

Distribution & Habitat

Caribbean & South America

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

 

 

Media

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Sowerby I, G. B. (1821-1834). The genera of recent and fossil shells, for the use of students, in conchology and geology. Published in 42 parts. Vol. 1, pls 1-126 [1821-1825]; vol. 2, pls 127-262 + text (unpaginated) [1825-1834]. London: G. B. Sowerby.

 

Other references:

Carlton, J. T., Geller, J. B., Reaka-Kudla, M. L. and Norse, E. A. (1999). Historical extinctions in the sea. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 30: 515-538.

del Monte-Luna, Pablo et al. (2023). A review of recent and future marine extinctions. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction 1: e13. https://doi.org/10.1017/ext.2023.11

Díaz, Juan Manuel and Borrero, Francisco J. (1995). On the occurrence of Pholadomya candida Sowerby, 1823 (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata) on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. Journal of Molluscan Studies 61(3): 407-408.

Díaz, J. M., Gast, F. and Torres, D. C. (2009). Rediscovery of a Caribbean living fossil: Pholadomya candida GB Sowerby I, 1823 (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata: Pholadomyoidea). Nautilus 123(1): 19-20.

Gibson-Smith, J. and Gibson-Smith, W. (1981). The status of Pholadomya candida G. B. Sowerby, I, 1823. Veliger 23: 355-356.

Huber, M. (2010). Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM.

Morton, B. (1980). The anatomy of the 'living fossil' Pholadomya candida Sowerby, 1823 (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata). Videnskabelige Meddelelser Fra Dansk Naturhistorik Forening I Kjøbenhavn. 142: 7-102.

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Pholadomya candida G. B. Sowerby I, 1823. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=413867 on 2025-06-10

Olsson, A. A. (1964). Neogene mollusks from northwestern Ecuador. Paleont. Res. Inst., Ithaca.

Rosenberg, G. (1992). Encyclopedia of Seashells. Dorset: New York. 224 pp. [p. 167]

Runnegar, B. (1972). Anatomy of Pholadomya candida (Bivalvia) and the origin of the Pholadomyidae. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 40: 45-58.

Runnegar, B. (1979). Pholadomya candida Sowerby: the last cadaver unearthed. Veliger 22: 171-172.

 

<< Back to the Bivalves database