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Pacific Pink Scallop

April 20, 2013 by · Comments Off on Pacific Pink Scallop 

Pacific Pink Scallop, Chlamys rubida, the Pacific pink scallop or pink scallop, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae found on the west coast of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to San Diego, California.
The pink scallop has two convex valves joined together by a hinge joint and grows to a diameter of about 6 centimetres (2.4 in). Each valve has an umbo or knoblike protuberance from which 20 to 30 shallow ridges radiate to the margin at the other side of the shell. The left valve is usually uppermost as it lies on the seabed and is some shade of red intermixed with white streaks.

The annual growth rings can be seen and there is concentric sculpturing parallel to the margin, often in a different shade of pink. The lower valve is either a paler shade of pink or dull white. There is a large auricle or flap on one side of the umbo. When the animal is feeding, it holds the valves apart and the mantle becomes visible, fringed with short tentacles and with a ring of tiny eyes near the margin of each valve.

The pink scallop can be distinguished from its close relative the spiny scallop (Chlamys hastata) by the valves being rather more rounded and by the lack of spines on the ribs which gives it a smooth texture. The glossy white interior of the shell does not have the purplish markings that are sometimes present in the spiny scallop.

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