Pea shell mussels, pea shells, fingernail clams, pill clams

Code KP039999

Class Bivalvia: Order Eulamellibranchia.

Small, rounded, bivalved molluscs with thin and somewhat translucent shells. The Sphaeriidae is a cosmopolitan family represented in Australia by eleven species in two genera ( Sphaerium and Pisidium ). Some species are widespread throughout Australia, others are confined to small regions or even to a single body of water.

Sphaeriids are found in mud or sand in almost any body of water, no matter how impermanent, running or still. They often occur in large numbers and are thought to be dispersed by insects, wind, or birds.

Bivalves accumulate toxic chemicals in the tissues. Sphaeriids have been used to monitor copper, zinc and ammonia pollution.

References:

Kuiper, J.G.J. (1983) The Sphaeriidae of Australia. Basteria 47 : 3-52.

Smith, B.J. (1996) Identification keys to the Families and Genera of Bivalve and Gastropod Molluscs found in Australian Inland Waters . Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology Identification Guide No. 6., Albury, NSW.