Mysella

Mysella
Temporal range:
Mysella lachlani
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Galeommatida
Family: Lasaeidae
Subfamily: Montacutinae
Genus: Mysella
Type species
Mysella anomala Angas, 1877
Synonyms[1]
  • Calvitium Laseron, 1953
  • Montacuta (Mysella) Angas, 1877
  • Mysella (Rochefortia) Vélain, 1877
  • Rochefortia Vélain, 1877
  • Virmysella Iredale, 1930

Mysella is a genus of marine bivalve molluscs of the family Lasaeidae.[1]

Description

Shells of Mysella are thin and concentrically striated.[2] Shells range from small to moderately sized, are inequilateral, and has a produced anterior end.[3] The hinge has a small triangular internal cartilage pit.[2] Members of the genus have a narrow hinge line, a short resilium, and right valves that either have a single oblique anterior tooth, or both an anterior and posterior tooth; the latter being much weaker if present, except in species which are relatively more equilateral.[3] Mysella have limited external sculpture, and are most commonly under 5 mm (0.20 in) in size, with some species reaching a length of 10 mm (0.39 in).[4]

Taxonomy

The genus was first described in 1877 by George French Angas.[2]

Distribution

Mysella has a global distribution.[5] The earliest known fossils of the genus date to the Paleocene, and have been found in Alabama and Texas in the United States.[6]

Species

Species within the genus Mysella include:[1]

  • Mysella alpha A. W. B. Powell, 1937
  • Mysella angasiana (Tate, 1887)
  • Mysella antarctica (E. A. Smith, 1907)
  • Mysella apudalpha Laws, 1944
  • Mysella australis (Vélain, 1877)
  • Mysella beta A. W. B. Powell, 1937
  • Mysella bladensis J. A. Gardner, 1943
  • Mysella concentrica (A. A. Gould, 1861)
  • Mysella cretacea Laseron, 1956
  • Mysella donaciformis Angas, 1878
  • Mysella gurjanovae Scarlato & Ivanova, 1974
  • Mysella henryi C. A. Fleming, 1948
  • Mysella hounselli (A. W. B. Powell, 1931)
  • Mysella lachlani Dell, 1952
  • Mysella lactea (Hedley, 1902)
  • Mysella larochei A. W. B. Powell, 1940
  • Mysella macquariensis (Hedley, 1916)
  • Mysella morioria Dell, 1952
  • Mysella nipponica Habe, 1981
  • Mysella ovalis Tate, 1892
  • Mysella ovata (Hedley, 1906)
  • Mysella patagona Ituarte, J. P. Martin & Zelaya, 2012
  • Mysella planata (Dall, 1885)
  • Mysella putealis Laws, 1950
  • Mysella rochebrunei (Dall, 1908)
  • Mysella spernax (Iredale, 1930)
  • Mysella tanabensis Habe, 1960
  • Mysella tellinoides (N. H. Woods, 1931)
  • Mysella tellinula (Odhner, 1924)
  • Mysella trigonoelliptica Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992
  • Mysella unidentata (Odhner, 1924)
  • Mysella ventricosa Scarlato, 1981
  • Mysella vitrea Laseron, 1956

References

  1. ^ a b c Mysella Angas, 1877. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 3 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Angas, George French (1877), "Description of one genus and twenty-five species of marine shells from New South Wales.", Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1877: 176 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library
  3. ^ a b Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. Auckland: Collins. p. 395. ISBN 0002169061.
  4. ^ Scott, Paul H. (1987). "A preliminary review of Mysella (Bivalvia, Montacutidae) from the northwestern Pacific". Western Society of Malacologists, Annual Report. 19: 13–14.
  5. ^ "Mysella Angas, 1877". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Mysella Angas 1877 (clam)". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 February 2026.