Lucine Shells of the Lucinidae Family

Lucine clams of the Lucinidae Family have equivalve (both valves equal in size and shape) shells that are either round or trapezoidal in shape. They have well-formed beaks and concentric ribs and two cardinal teeth at the hinge. The Lucine Shells are white in color. Lucine Clams can be found intertidally to very deep water, in both cold and warm seas. They are usually buried in mud or muddy gravel, especially near seagrass beds. They are suspension feeders but also reside in high sulfide environments and are capable of producing their own nutrients through a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria that are found on the clam’s gill filaments. There are three hundred eighty-three species in the Lucine Shell Family of which twenty-eight are found along the coastlines of the Baja Peninsula.