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vol-19BIOGEOCHEHICAL STUDIES ON THE MOLLUSK BIVALVE
ANADARA DILUVII (LAHARCK, 1805) (PTERIOMORPHA ARCIDAE)
By
SHERIF E. RAKADAN,’ AND MOHAMED A. SHATA,
ational Inst. of Ocean ..and Fish., Kayet Bey, Alexandria, EGYPT.
er words: Anadara diluvii, Shell, Biogeochemistry, Description,
Distribution, Habitat, Mineralogy.
ABSTRACT
Anadara diluvii (Lamarck, 1805) 1S an edible mar1ne blvalve popular
in Egypt. The X-ray diffractlon of its shell proved that it is
entirely composed of aragonlte during its whole age stages. The
variations of carbonate elements ln the shell during lts growth are
controlled by the selective uptake of the organism from the desired
elements, the ecological conditlons of both the water and sediments
and the mineralogy of the shell. The hardness of the shell through
growth is due to lamination rather than to quartz formation. In
additlon to calclum, the elements more lnvolved in building up the
shell are Hg” , Pb”, Zn”, Cu” and Fe”.
A descrlptlon of the speCles, lts habltat and dlstr1butlon, as well
as, the chemical composltion of the shell and its correlatlon wlth the
mlneralogy and growth had been provlded and dlscussed.
