download pdf

Tellina modesta Carpenter
TELLINIDAE
Section Oudardia Monterosato 1885
Alaska to the Gulf of California.
425
Modest Tellin
Plate 31U
% to I inch in length, elongate, moderately pointed at the posterior
lower corner. Surface white with iridescent sheen and with fine concentric
threads or grooves. These fade out at the posterior fourth of the shell, but
reappear more coarsely on the very posterior slope. There is a well-formed,
radial rib inside just behind the anterior muscle scar. Common in certain
sandy localities from shore to 25 fathoms. It appears that T. buttoni Dall is
the same species.
Figure 87. Pacific Coast Tellins. a and b, Tellina idae Dall, 2 inches (California);
Tellina lutea Wood
c and d, Tellina hitea Wood, 3 inches (Alaska).
Section Peronidia Dall 1900
Arctic Ocean to Cook's Inlet, Alaska. Japan.
Great Alaskan Tellin
Figure 87c, d
3 to 4 inches in length, elongate, quite compressed, and with a posterior
twist to the right. Worn shells chalky-white, commonly with a pink flush.
Periostracum in young is greenish yellow and glossy; in adults dark-brown.
Ligament prominent. Commonly found from beach to 2 3 fathoms. T. venu-
losa Schrenck 1861 is an ecologic form with brownish cracks in the shell.