Little Heart Cockle

Corculum cardissa

Shell medium to large, thin, laterally compressed, distinctly heart shaped, variably convex and bordered by smooth to ridged or even spiny projections on shell perimeter. Distinctly 'dished' appearance. Offset umbones to facilitate valve closure. Posterior with discrete translucencies. Photosymbiotic.

Morphology

This highly sophisticated system of light transmission functions to allow protection of soft tissue by shell while still permitting light to penetrate deep to photosymbionts entrained within. Byssus present in adults.

Evolution

This is the type species of the genus Corculum. Kirkendale (2009) has shown (and others have confirmed e.g. Herrera et al. 2015) that Fragum is paraphyletic and includes Corculum and Lunulicardia, the two other wholly photosymbiotic lineages of cardiids. The phylogeny of members of the Fraginae subfamily is in a state of flux and the taxonomy of the group is in need of attention.

Behaviour

Benthic after the larvae settles and epifaunal on coral rubble surfaces.

Method of reproduction

Broadcast spawner.

Habitat

Marine

Intertidal to shallow subtidal amongst dead coral rubble or sand, where it is also impossible to distinguish from the background, making it highly camouflaged. Exposed to sheltered areas.

Distribution

QLD, NT and WA in Australia, but widely distributed in the Indo-west Pacific.

Life Cycle

Veliger larvae competent after 2 days in plankton (Kawaguti 1950).

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Subclass:	Heterodonta
Superorder:	Imparidentia
Order:	Cardiida
Superfamily:	Cardioidea
Family:	Cardiidae
Subfamily:	Fraginae
Genus:	Corculum
Species:	cardissa

Name Published Year:	1758
Rank:	species
Scientific Name Authorship:	Linnaeus
Commercial Impact:	Sought after by shell collectors
Conservation Assessment:	Least Concern

Net Conservation Benefits Fund

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Western Australian Museum Collections https://museum.wa.gov.au/online-collections/names/corculum-cardissa
Accessed 14 May 2024

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References

Allan, J.K. (1950). Australian Shells: with related animals living in the sea, in freshwater and on the land. Melbourne, Victoria: Georgian House.

Hedley, C. (1913). Studies of Australian Mollusca. Part XI. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 38, 258-339 (page 268, as Cardium productum).

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. Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks.

Hylleberg, J. (2004). Lexical approach to Cardiacea. Records of taxa. Illustrated and annotated records of living and fossil shells, with emphasis on the families Cardiidae and Lymnocardiidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Part 2: A-M. Phuket Marine Biological Center Special Publication, 30, 355-644.

Kawaguti, S. (1950). Observations on the Heart Shell, Corculum cardissa (L.), and Its associated zooxanthellae. Pacific Science, IV, 43-49.

Kirkendale, L. (2009). Their Day in the Sun: molecular phylogenetics and origin of photosymbiosis in the ‘other’ group of photosymbiotic marine bivalves (Cardiidae: Fraginae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London, 97, 448–465.

Lamprell, K., & Whitehead, T. (1992). Bivalves of Australia. Bathhurst, New South Wales: Crawford House Press Vol. 1 (pl. 31, fig. 209, as Corculum dionaeum).

Lamy, E. (1942). Notes sur les espèces Lamarckiennes de Cardium. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris, (3)14(2nd series), 228-232.

Maes, V.O. (1967). The littoral marine mollusks of Cocos-Keeling Islands (Indian Ocean). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 119, 93-217.

Poorten, J.J. ter. (2009). The Cardiidae of the Panglao Marine Biodiversity Project 2004 and the Panglao 2005 Deep-Sea Cruise with descriptions of four new species (Bivalvia). Vita Malacologica, 8, 9-96.

Persselin, S.L. (1998). The evolution of shell windows within the Fraginae (Bivalvia: Cardiidae) and the origin of algal symbiosis in cardiids. M.S. Thesis in Biology, University of Guam.

Reeve, L.A. (1845). Monograph of the genus Cardium. pls 13-22. In Reeve, L.A. (ed). In L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 2. [imprint date 1843] [pl. 21, fig. 114] (as Cardium unimaculatum; pl. 21, fig. 122 as Cardium dionaeum).

Rippingale, O.H., & McMichael, D.F. (1961). Queensland and Great Barrier Reef Shells. Brisbane, Queensland: Jacaranda Press.

Tan, S.K., & Low, M.E.Y. (2014). Checklist of the Mollusca of Cocos (Keeling) / Christmas Island ecoregion. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 30: 313-375.

Willan, R.C., Bryce, C., & Slack-Smith, S.M. (2015). Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: molluscs. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement, 84, 287-343.