![Small brown clam closed to show outer ridges and stripes [240x180, 24K]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3184/2450159481_cfff12aa79_m.jpg "What the Shell #7: Lady-in-waiting venus clam (Chione intapurpurea, open)")
![Small brown clam opened to show purple markings on inside [240x180, 24K]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/2450985396_d47b5b227e_m.jpg "What the Shell #7: Lady-in-waiting venus clam (Chione intapurpurea, open)")
Lady-in-waiting venus clam (Chione intapurpurea), © Jason Robertshaw
What the Shell Is That? is my series on beachcombing and tidal life. Living on the west coast of Florida, it is mostly about shells, but can also be about other flotsam, fauna and even flora.
Lady-in-waiting venus clam (Chione intapurpurea)
Date: 27 April, 2008
Location: Turtle Beach, Sarasota, Florida, USA; at the top of the beach scarp.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Veneroida
Family: Veneridae
Lady-in-waiting venus clam (Chione intapurpurea)
Report:
It was a rough and windy day with light showers. It was also our first trip to the the infamous Midnight Pass area of Siesta Key. The pass was closed in the 1980s during construction of the bayside Intercoastal Waterway and its reopening has been a hot-button issue in the area ever since. If you click on this link, you can see a Google map image of one of the houses nearly falling into the ocean after storm erosion (circa 2001?). The area appears to have been “renourished” since then.
The venerids are remarkably abundant, perhaps the most abundant shell on the beaches here. The only reason this specimen stood out was because it was the only shell I found that day that had both valves together.
References
- Ruppert, Edward and Richard Fox. Seashore Animals of the Southeast. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988. pp. 160.
- Witherington, E., Blair and Dawn Witherington. Florida’s Living Beaches. City: Pineapple Press (FL), 2007. pp. 113.
Additional Links
- Jacksonville Shell Club: Puberella intapurpurea photos
Jason Robertshaw
Do you know the history behind why it is called “lady-in-waiting”?
Kevin: Good question. This shell is easily confused with the even more common cross-barred venus. But the common name’s origin will have to wait until I can make it up to the lab’s library for some research.
I did a little more research on the name of this animal. This clams is in the genus Chione. In Greek mythology, Chione was a snow nymph, daughter of Boreas (the North Wind) and Oreithya (the Mountain Winds). The species name, intapurpruea, is a combination of the Latin inter (within) and purpura (a purple dye)¹. This undoubtedly refers to the purple markings on the interior.
I found nothing definitive about the common name. As summarized at Wikipedia, a Lady-in-waiting is:
Since this animal is in the Veneridae family, which owes its name to the Greek goddess Venus, perhaps it is a suggestion that this Chionid clams is of lower rank than the true Venus spp. That’s my best guess.
¹Perry, Louise M., and Jeanne S. Schwengel. Marine Shells of the Western Coast of Florida. Ithaca: Palenontolgical Research Institution (NY), 1955. pp. 73.