HIATELLIDAE, Gray, 1824

Mead, A., Carlton, J. T., Griffiths, C. L. & Rius, M., 2011, Introduced and cryptogenic marine and estuarine species of South Africa, Journal of Natural History 45 (39 - 40), pp. 2463-2524 : 2497

Family HIATELLIDAE

Hiatella arctica (Linnaeus, 1767) Cryptogenic (= Saxicava arctica )

This small clam is recorded from fouling communities around the world, and probably consists of multiple species ( Coan et al. 2000; Mikkelsen and Bieler 2008). We have not yet been able to establish when this species was first collected in South Africa, but if it was introduced it may have been one of the earliest invasions arriving from the 1600s onwards. It is recorded in Day (1969) as Saxicava arctica , occurring from False Bay (southwest coast) to East London (east coast) “in rock crevices and burrows in sandy limestone.” In addition, it was reported by Henschel et al. (1990), also as Saxicava arctica , from False Bay. Originally described from the North Atlantic Ocean, it is widely acknowledged as having been dispersed globally in ship-fouling, but which species are involved and their genetic identity remain to be determined. Only genetic studies will reveal the origin of South African populations and if the origin proves to be Europe, we would regard Hiatella arctica as introduced.