Petricolidae

American piddock ( Petri Cola pholadiformis ( Lamarck, 1818) )

The American piddock or angel wings (Latin Petri Cola pholadiformis ) is a native of the East Coast of North America of mussel which was abducted late 19th century to Europe.

Features

The case of the American piddock is long and oblong- elliptic to about 6.5 cm. The swirl is located in the front half of the housing. The surface is covered with concentric growth lines and radial ribs and ribs. Especially in the front housing part this ornamentation is designed to be particularly strong; this part is used for drilling in the substrate. The castle has the right door on two strong teeth, of which the rear is divided into two parts. The left flap sit three teeth, of which the middle tooth is divided into two parts. However, there are no posterior teeth present. The siphons can be stretched about twice body length and are fused at the base. The surface line is therefore deeply indented.

Occurrence and life

The type drilled mechanically by the movement of their two holes in flaps solidified sediment or soft rock (some lime and mudstone ), also in peat and lives his life in these holes. Siphons only slightly project from the holes to the surface. It feeds on plankton, which they filter from the water. She probably has the native White piddock ( Barnea candida ) that live (d ) in the same substrates displaced. The occurrence in the water column is limited to the upper 10 m.

Dissemination

The species is native to the east coast of North America from Prince Edward Iceland (Canada) on the east coast of the United States prior to the Gulf of Mexico. 1890, she was deported to Europe to the English east coast probably in the settlement of the American oyster ( Crassostrea virginica ). In 1899 she was already found on the Belgian- Dutch North Sea coast. In 1904 she had reached the German North Sea coast. In 1930 it was then penetrated in the Western Baltic. Today, it occurs on the entire east coast of the Atlantic from Norway to West Africa, including the Mediterranean and Black Sea. This new area of ​​distribution coincides with that of the whites piddock.