Not far off the coast of the University of California at Santa Barbara, a live mollusk was found, which
At Naples Point, Southern California, foundsmall clam. According to Jeff Goddard, co-author of the study and the scientist who discovered the sea creature, this species was thought to have disappeared millions of years ago.
During the daytime low tide in November 2018The author of the study was turning over rocks in search of nudibranch sea slugs at Cape Naples when a pair of small translucent bivalves caught his attention. He did not collect them and took close-up photographs of the intriguing animals.
Photo of a long-lost clam in Southern California.
Author: Jeff Goddard
From high-quality images, Goddard establishedtheir taxonomic affiliation - the unknown species belonged to the family of bivalve mollusks. He shared his discovery with Paul Valentich-Scott, curator emeritus of malacology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. However, there were not enough photographs for identification. Jeff Goddard returned to the beach to collect shellfish. After nine attempts, in March 2019, he succeeded.
Two scientists investigated and found that the species belongs to the fossil species - Cymatioa cookie. It was previously known only from fossils.
A tiny clam (bottom center) sits next to a chiton in the Naples Point tidal pools.
Photo: Jeff Goddard
Scientists have figured out how mollusks got toSanta Barbara. They were brought by currents, and they traveled in the form of planktonic larvae during a particularly hot period, from 2014 to 2016. Then many marine species spread north.
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Cover: Kirt L. Onthank, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0