Pododesmus macrochisma (Deshayes, 1839)

green false-jingle

Description: The shell is large, flattened, and variable in shape. The right (lower) valve tends to conforms to the shell’s substrate to which it is attached. The exterior surface of the shell may bear radial ribs, which in some cases also reflects the surface of other shells to which it may be attached. The foramen (hole in lower valve through which byssal plug attaches to the substrate) is generally large. The color of the shell is typically green.

Size: 100-130 mm.

Ecology: Epifaunal and attached to hard substrates in the intertidal zone to mid-shelf (0-90 m).

Geological range: Recorded from as early as the Miocene to the Recent.

Geographic distribution: Arctic Ocean (71°N) to Sonora, México (27°N). Reported from the Towsley Formation (Pliocene, California), Lomita Marl (Pleistocene, California), Palos Verdes Sand (Pleistocene, California), San Pedro Sand (Pleistocene, California), and Quaternary terraces of Baja California (México), Oregon, and Alaska.

Click on thumbnails for larger view