Korniushin (2000) noted that this species can be distinguished from S. (S). tasmanicum by the rounded shell outline, broad and posteriorly shifted umbo, broad and strongly curved hinge plate, hooked cardinal teeth and arched lateral teeth and the widely spaced shell pores. Also, the white colour of the shell is a distinctive character of S. (M). tatiarae and the open nephridium type in S. (M). tatiarae was also noted.
Sphaerium (Musculium) tatiarae Cotton & Godfrey, 1938
Common name: Pea shell, pea clam, pill clam
Class Bivalvia
Infraclass Heteroconchia
Cohort Heterodonta
Megaorder Neoheterodontei
Order Sphaeriida
Superfamily Sphaerioidea
Family Sphaeriidae
Subfamily Sphaeriinae
Type species: Tellina cornea Linnaeus, 1758. Europe.
Subgenus Musculium Link, 1807
Subgenus Sphaerinova Iredale, 1943
Original name: Sphaerium tatiarae Cotton & Godfrey,1938. In Cotton, B. C., & Godfrey, F. K. (1938). The Molluscs of South Australia. Part 1. Pelecypoda. Adelaide: Government Printer.
Type locality: Tatiara Creek, Bordertown, South Australia.
Synonym: Sphaerinova bursa Cotton, 1953.
Shallow burrower in sand/mud and amongst roots in flowing creeks. Suspension and deposit feeder. Larvae brooded.
Southern Victoria, South Australia, northern Tasmania. Specimens with similar characters occur in New South Wales, but it needs to be confirmed whether these belong to M. tatiarae.
Korniushin, A. V. (2000). Review of the family Sphaeriidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia) of Australia, with the description of four new species. Records of the Australian Museum 52: 41-102.
Kuiper, J. G. J. (1983). The Sphaeriidae of Australia. Basteria 47: 3-52.
Lee, T. (2019). Sphaeriidae Deshayes, 1855 (1820). Pp. 197-201 in C. Lydeard & Cummings, K. S. Freshwater Mollusks of the World: a Distribution Atlas. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.
Lee, T. & Ó Foighil, D. (2003). Phylogenetic structure of the Sphaeriinae, a global clade of freshwater bivalve molluscs, inferred from nuclear (ITS-1) and mitochondrial (16S) ribosomal gene sequences. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 137: 245-260.
