Bivalves · Venerida · Veneridae
Chicken Venus
Chamelea gallina
It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary
Chamelea gallina, known in Spanish as chirla, is a saltwater bivalve mollusc of the family Veneridae. It lives in the sandy sediments of the coast, at shallow depths ranging from a few centimetres to 20 metres. It feeds on plankton filtered from the water. Its range extends from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coast of Europe, including the North Sea and the coasts of Portugal, Morocco and Spain, and it is very abundant in the Adriatic. It is about 25 mm long and has characteristic concentric lines on its valves. Its fishery is commercially valuable; world catches in 1995 were reckoned at some 42,000 tonnes.
Size
up to 4.5 cm
Lifespan
10 years
Diet
Omnivore
Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.
Social structure
Colony
Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.
Sighting difficulty
Unknown
Fun facts
- GeneralIt is fished with towed dredges on the beaches of the Gulf of Cádiz.
- It is told apart from the grooved carpet shell by its smaller, triangular shell with concentric ridges rather than a cross-hatched pattern.
- This is the striped venus clam, the basis of an important fishery in the Gulf of Cádiz and the Italian Adriatic, where it is taken with hydraulic dredges.
- It is told apart from the grooved carpet shell by its smaller, triangular shell with fine, strongly marked concentric ridges.
- Its flesh has been studied in comparative proteomic analyses alongside the Manila clam so that the two species can be told apart in processed products.
Life cycle & biology
- Habitat & environment
- Shallow fine sand along the shore
- Sexual maturity
- 1 year
Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamelea_gallina
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 20 de 100 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Chicken Venus — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Chequered Carpet Shell
Ruditapes decussatus
Mediterranean Mussel
Mytilus galloprovincialis
Pod Razor Shell
Ensis siliqua
Noah's Ark
Arca noae
Common Cockle
Cerastoderma edule
Variegated Scallop
Mimachlamys varia
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