Dosinia concentrica (Born, 1778) [+ D. elegans (Conrad, 1844: 325*) **] Elegant Dosinia Right Valve

World record sized specimen - 11.18 cm.

    Single valve found on the beach by Eulala Paddock (Irmo, South Carolina) on the outer shore at the northeast end of Topsail Island, North Carolina circa. 1960's. Original digital images by David Pugh.

* This well-know southeastern US clam was identified by the junior synonym above, and all authorities, e.g., Abbott, 1974 ("1846"), Malacolog 4.1.1 <http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=13313> ("1843"), except this website and Huber (2010; chapter 5) have the date of Conrad's original description (fig. 1) incorrect. Here follows an expanded explanation of an earlier analysis (Lee, 2009: 44) of the reference containing the original description (cited in full below with URL): Although Conrad read his paper introducing Artemis elegans to the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia on December 26, 1843, this number of the published proceedings did not reach subscribers until the next month, January, 1844; see fig. 2, taken from Nolan (1913: ix). In a bit of an ironic twist, Conrad mistook D. discus for D. concentrica in his original description. Such confusion isn't rare in the literature, and underscores the importance of proper dating of scientific names, which all-too-often move in and out of validity based on increased knowledge. Nonetheless, they are ultimately subjective constructs fraught with the possibility of error such as that of Conrad (see **).

** Huber (2010: 410 & chapter 5) appears to be the first to consider this synonymy. His largest record of the unified taxon is only 10.15 cm. [compatible with 10.2 cm. (Lee, 2009: 44)].

Abbott, R.T., 1974. American Seashells, 2nd ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York. [viii] + 663 pp. + 24 pls.

Conrad, T.A., "1843" [1844]. Descriptions of nineteen species of Tertiary fossils from Virginia and North Carolina. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1(33): 323-329. <https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26286378>

Huber, M., 2010. Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world’s marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. ConchBooks, Hackenheim, Germany. 901 pp.

Lee, H.G., 2009. Marine Shells of Northeast Florida. Jacksonville Shell Club, Inc. 204 pp. + 19 color plates. 28 May.

Nolan, E.J. [ed.], 1913. Contents of the Journal and Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. i-xiv + 1-1419. After 26 March. <https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26311228>