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  • Pearl Oyster with Bud


    Images:

    I_gotta_rock

    Taxonomy

    Pearl Oyster

    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Mollusca
    Class: Bivalvia
    Order: Ostreida
    Family: Pteriidae
    Genus: Pterida
    Species: Pterida sp.
    Author Citation Scopoli, 1777

    Geological Time Scale

    Eon: Phanerozoic
    Era: Mesozoic
    Period: Cretaceous
    Sub Period: None
    Epoch: Late

    Stratigraphy

    Monmouth Group
    Mt. Laurel Formation

    Provenance

    Collector: Heather Siple
    Date Collected: 07/12/2021
    Acquired by: Field Collection

    Dimensions

    Length: 1.8 cm
    Width: 1.5 cm
    Height: 0.4 cm

    Location

    Reedy Point (North Side)
    New Castle
    Delaware
    United States

    Comments

    This is a very rare find at this site. Although two members of the genus have been reported along the C and D Canal, this is the only one I've found at Reedy Point in 17 years of collecting there!

     

    PLEASE NOTE:  It is possible that this was carried there during frequent human activity - perhaps in a tire tread from a vehicle that came from another site along the canal.

     

    This specimen has a 4mm pearl bud near the hinge on the interior side of the valve.

     

    Because there are more than one species of Pteria at the canal and this shell is heavily worn, I am refraining from narrowing it down to a species. Of the two reported, only one really resembles it. P. petrosa (Conrad) has strong, concentric growth rings, but no costae. P. laripes (Morton) has strong costae and fine growth lines, so is probably a match.




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