Bright Lucine Shell, Cavilinga lampra

Bright Lucine Shell, Cavilinga lampra. Size: 2.2 cm (0.9 inches) x 2.1 cm (0.8 inches). Shell collected from the beach in the greater San Diego area, San Diego, California, March 2003. Shell collection, photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah

Phylogeny: The Bright Lucine Shell, Cavilinga lampra (Dall, 1901), is a bivalve mollusk that is a member of the Lucinidae Family of Lucines. The genus Cavilinga is one of ninety-seven genera in this family, and there are eight species in this genus. The specific name lampra comes from the Greek word meaning bright, shiny, or fine; all of which describe this pretty shell.

Description: The Bright Lucine Shell has a circular profile with a small, sharp, beak, which  has a furrow that offsets the posterior end. The exterior of the shell is sculpted with numerous, very fine, concentric ridges, and a few heavy concentric ridges. The shell is a shiny white with pink or orange tinges. The Bright Lucine Shell reaches a maximum of 2.5 cm (1.0 inch) in length and 2.3 cm (0.9 inches) in height.

Habitat and Distribution: Bright Lucine Shells are found in mud or sandy mud, intertidally, and to depths up to 70 m (230 feet). They are a temperate and tropical Eastern Pacific species. In Mexican waters they are found along the entire west coast, including  throughout the Gulf of California and in the Revillagigedo Islands.

Ecology and Behavior: Bright Lucine Shells are suspension feeders that feed primarily on plankton and other suspended organic matter. Bright Lucine Shells host symbiotic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in specialized gill cells called bacteriocytes.  They live in environments with sulfide-rich sediments. The shell pumps sulfide-rich water over its gills to provide the bacteria with sulfur and oxygen. These endosymbiotic bacteria then use these substrates to fix carbon into organic compounds, which are then transferred to the host as nutrients. If they lack sufficient food sources, the Bright Lucine Shells can digest their symbionts as food. Bright Lucine Shells are preyed upon by fish, crabs, and gastropods. They are gonochoric and reproduce sexually, through broadcast spawning, with external fertilization.  From a conservation perspective they have not been formally evaluated however they are fairly common with a relatively wide distribution and should be consider to be of Least Concern.

Synonyms: Phacoides (cavilucina) lamprus.