A Pleistocene mangrove cockle Anadara grandis (Pelecypoda: Arcidae) from Cartagena, Colombian Caribbean

Alvarez-León, Ricardo; Cantera-Kintz, Jaime R

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Revista de Biología Tropical

On-line version ISSN 0034-7744Print version ISSN 0034-7744

Rev. biol. trop vol.49 n.3-4 San José Dec. 2001

A Pleistocene mangrove cockle Anadara grandis (Pelecypoda: Arcidae)
from Cartagena, Colombian Caribbean

Ricardo Alvarez-León ¹ and Jaime R. Cantera-Kintz ²

1 Universidad de La Sabana. Apdo. Aéreo 101372. Santa Fe de Bogotá D.C.- Colombia. Fax 57-1-8618979; E-mail: alvarez_leon@hotmail.com

2 Universidad del Valle. Apdo. Aéreo 25360. Cali (Valle)-Colombia. E-mail: jcantera@biologia.univalle.edu.co

Received 25-III-2000. Corrected 6-IV-2001. Accepted 18-VI-2001.

Key words: Anadara, mangrove cockle, fossil, Colombian Caribbean.

In the Colombian Caribbean, the genus Anadara Gray, 1847 includes, according to Díaz-Merlano and Puyana-Hegedus (1994), five species: A. notabilis (Röding, 1798), A. baughmani Hertlein, 1951, A. ovalis (Brugière, 1798), A. brasiliana (Lamark, 1819), and A. chemnitzi (Philipii, 1851). These species are common in sandy mud bottoms on depths of 1 to 60 m. Only A. ovalis has been founded in waters with low salinities, typical of estuaries and coastal lagoons.

In 1995 a single, fossilized shell of A. grandis was found in Pleistocene terraces over reefs or calcareous rocks near Cartagena (Colombian Caribbean; 10º20 N, 75º25 W). The specimen collection matches the description of A. grandis presented by Keen (1971). The white shell is very large (112 mm long, 89 mm height and 80 mm diameter), solid, massive and heavy. It has 26 ribs, thickest in the middle of the shell. A ligament scar shows its distribution in grooves or pits above the hinge. The shell is well preserved and still shows the fibrous periostracum.

This specimen suggests ancient exchanges between oceans before the rise of the isthmus of Panama. Associated corals (Agaricia, Favia, Meandrina, Porites, and Siderastrea) are also important.

References

Díaz-Merlano, J.M. & M. Puyana-Hegedus. 1994. Moluscos del Caribe colombiano: Un catálogo ilustrado. Colciencias, Fundación Natura, Invemar. Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia. 291 p. [ Links ]

Keen, M.A. 1971. Seashells of tropical west America. Marine mollusks from Baja California to Peru. Stanford University, Stanford, California. 1 064 p. [ Links ]