Atactodea striata
{{Short description|Species of clam}}
{{Speciesbox
| genus = Atactodea
| species = striata
| authority = Gmelin, 1791
}}
Atactodea striata, common name striated beach clam or striated little trough shell, is a species of surf clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mesodesmatidae.
Description
Atactodea is the abundant, small, relatively strongly concentrically ribbed mesodesmatid.{{Cite book |last=Malacological Society of Australia |url=http://archive.org/details/journalmalacolo2mala |title=Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia |date=1970 |publisher=Malvern, Vic. : Malacological Society of Australia |others=The Malacological Society of Australasia |edition=Number 1 |pages=87–94 |chapter=A living species of Austrotriton from New South Wales}}
Atactodea striata 01.jpg|Right valve
Atactodea striata 02.jpg|Left valve
Distribution
Found in atoll lagoons throughout the Indo-Pacific including Madagascar, India, Viet Nam, China, Philippines, Tarawa, Malaysia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Fiji, Japan (up to Kii Peninsula, Honshu), and Vanuatu.{{Cite web |last=Atlas of Living Australia |first= |title=Species: Atactodea striata (Striated Little Trough Shell/Triangle Shell) |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/c3761277-e80d-4166-b029-a2c41f058a0e |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=bie.ala.org.au |language=en-AU}} It has been introduced in the Mediterranean Sea in the areas of Israel and Malta.{{Cite web |title=Atactodea striata (Gmelin, 1791) |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/157128767 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.gbif.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Indo-Pacific Molluscan Species Database at The Academy of Natural Sciences |url=http://clade.ansp.org/obis/search.php/17172 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=clade.ansp.org}}
Habitat
Found in sandy substrates in the intertidal zone.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/oapen-20.500.12657-59020 |title="THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TANAMU 1 - A Pre-Lapita to Post-Lapita Site from Caution Bay, South Coast of Mainland Papua New Guinea |date=2022}}{{Cite book |last=Tan |first=K. S. |url=http://archive.org/details/raffles-bulletin-zoology-supplement-11-047-054 |title=A small collection of gastropods and bivalves from the Anambas and Natuna Islands, South China Sea |last2=Kastoro |first2=W. W. |date=2004 |language=English}} This small surf clam may occur in abundance on high intertidal lagoon beaches.{{Cite book |last=Smithsonian Institution Press. |url=http://archive.org/details/atollresearchb4814932smit |title=Atoll Research Bulletin no. 481-493 June 2001 |last2=National Research Council (U.S.). Pacific Science Board |last3=Smithsonian Institution |last4=National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) |last5=United States. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife |date=1951 |publisher=Washington, D.C. : [Smithsonian Press] |others=Smithsonian Libraries |pages= |chapter=BENTHIC ECOLOGY AND BIOTA OF TARAWA ATOLL LAGOON: INFLUENCE OF EQUATORIAL UPWELLING, CIRCULATION, AND HUMAN HARVEST}}
Human use
These clams are readily available by foraging the inshore tidal flats, mangroves and rocks. Archeological evidence indicates that Atactodea striata were used as a subsistence food by the Lapita, a Neolithic people of the South Pacific, at least as early as 4,700 years ago. They are among the most common bivalves found in 2000 year-old shell middens in Papua New Guinea{{Cite book |last=P Swadling |url=http://archive.org/details/biostor-128739 |title=CENTRAL PROVINCE SHELLFISH RESOURCES AND THEIR UTILIZATION IN THE PREHISTORIC PAST OF PAPUA NEW-GUINEA |date=1977}} and in more recent shell middens in Australia.{{Cite book |last=Sally Brockwell |url=http://archive.org/details/biostor-251910 |title=Holocene settlement of the northern coastal plains, Northern Territory, Australia |last2=Patricia Bourke |last3=Anne Clarke |last4=Christine Crassweller |last5=Patrick Faulkner |last6=Betty Meehan |last7=Sue O'connor |last8=Robin Sim |last9=Daryl Wesley |date=2011 |language=English}} Called "Alure" in South Vanuatu Languages, Atactodea striata is harvested by the indigenous people of Vanuatu as a minor subsistence food. Atactodea striata is harvested, mostly by women, by gleaning intertidal zones. Women fishers walk the shoreline and shallows collecting Atactodea along with a variety of other common clams, bivalves, crabs, chitons, sea slugs, anemone and octopus.{{Cite book |last=Secretariat of the Pacific Community |url=https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/static/FullTextFiles/071091.pdf |title=VANUATU COUNTRY REPORT: PROFILES AND RESULTS FROM SURVEY WORK AT PAUNANGISU VILLAGE, MOSO ISLAND, URI AND URIPIV ISLANDS AND THE MASKELYNE ARCHIPELAGO |publisher=Pacific Regional Oceanic and Coastal Fisheries Development Programme |year=2003 |isbn=978-982-00-0265-4}} On Tarawa, indigenous people harvest Atactodea striata as a preferred baby food because of its small size.