Tellina tenuis

Tellina tenuis
Name	Tellina tenuis
Regnum	Animalia
Phylum	Mollusca
Classis	Bivalvia
Ordo	Venerida
Familia	Tellinidae
Genus	Tellina
Species	T. tenuis
Binomial	Tellina tenuis
Binomial authority	(da Costa, 1778)

Tellina tenuis is a small marine bivalve mollusc in the family Tellinidae, described from northeastern Atlantic coasts. It is notable for its thin, elongated shell, infaunal lifestyle, and wide distribution along European and North African shores. The species figures in regional faunal surveys, benthic ecology studies, and long-term monitoring programs related to coastal biodiversity and sediment dynamics.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was originally described by Joseph da Costa and appears in taxonomic treatments alongside genera treated in works by Carl Linnaeus, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Georges Cuvier, and Constantine Rafinesque. Subsequent systematic revisions referenced in collections at institutions such as the Natural History Museum, Oxford University Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution reflect placement within the family Tellinidae and order Venerida. Nomenclatural decisions intersect with catalogues maintained by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, regional checklists produced by the Marine Biological Association, and databases curated by the World Register of Marine Species and the European Register of Marine Species.

Description

The shell is laterally compressed, equivalve, thin and fragile, reaching up to about 16–20 mm in length in mature specimens according to faunal keys used in field guides published by the Marine Biological Association and regional atlases. Shell morphology comparisons are common in faunal monographs alongside species treated by Charles Darwin, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, and John Edward Gray when distinguishing similar bivalves. The external ornamentation is smooth or faintly striated; coloration ranges from white to pale pink or yellow, with occasional radial bands described in regional identification keys used by the British Antarctic Survey and the Irish Naturalists' Journal. The pallial line and siphonal structure are features examined by malacologists working at institutions such as the Royal Society and the Zoological Society of London.

Distribution and habitat

This species occurs along the northeastern Atlantic coastline, recorded from Scandinavia, the British Isles, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay, Iberian Peninsula coasts, and parts of the Mediterranean and North African shoreline in surveys by the Marine Biological Association, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and the Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer. It inhabits intertidal and shallow subtidal zones in silty sand, muddy sand, and estuarine sediments; habitat descriptions feature in regional field guides produced by organizations including the Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural England, and the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología. Distributional records are incorporated into monitoring programs run by the European Environment Agency, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and national biodiversity inventories.

Biology and ecology

Telline tenuis is an infaunal suspension feeder that extends a paired inhalant and exhalant siphon to the sediment surface to filter plankton and detritus, a behaviour documented in benthic ecology papers appearing in journals associated with the Royal Society, the Linnean Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Its ecological role is noted in studies of bioturbation, sediment oxygenation, and nutrient cycling cited in reports by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Community ecology surveys by the Marine Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London commonly list it with co-occurring taxa such as polychaete worms catalogued by the Marine Biological Association, crustaceans recorded by the Food and Agriculture Organization, and other molluscs treated in works from the Natural History Museum and the Smithsonian.

Reproduction and life cycle

Reproductive cycles and larval development have been described in regional reproductive biology studies conducted by laboratories affiliated with the University of Southampton, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Aberdeen. Gametogenesis follows seasonal patterns influenced by temperature and food availability, themes explored in research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and reported at conferences organized by the European Marine Biological Resource Centre. Planktonic larvae undergo typical bivalve veliger stages before settlement and metamorphosis into benthic juveniles, a life history stage reported in symposia associated with the International Marine Conservation Congress and the World Congress of Malacology.

Predators and parasites

Predation on this bivalve is recorded from shorebirds documented by the RSPB, crustaceans studied by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, and demersal fish surveyed by the Marine Scotland Science programs. Parasitological records in marine invertebrates from institutes such as the Natural History Museum and parasitology research groups at the University of Copenhagen document trematode and other endoparasite associations that affect reproductive output and survival, topics presented at meetings of the British Society for Parasitology and the European Marine Biology Symposium.

Human interactions and conservation

While not a target for commercial fisheries, the species appears in environmental impact assessments, coastal monitoring, and biodiversity indicator lists compiled by the European Environment Agency, the Marine Conservation Society, and national agencies such as Natural Resources Wales and the Environment Agency. Changes in abundance are used as indicators in studies of eutrophication, hypoxia, and climate-driven range shifts reported in IPCC-related regional assessments and publications from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Conservation status is generally of low concern at a global level but is monitored regionally by organisations such as Scottish Natural Heritage, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and local marine protected area management plans.

Category:Bivalves Category:Marine molluscs of Europe