“Draculamya” uraniae: A New Small-Sized Bivalve from the Mediterranean Sea (Galeommatida, Lasaeidae)

Abstract

A new Galeommatid bivalve is described for the Mediterranean Sea, tentatively assigned to the elusive genus Draculamya Oliver and Lützen, 2011. “Draculamya” uraniae n. sp is described upon a number of dead but fresh and articulated specimens, plus many loose valves. Its distribution is almost basin-wide in the Mediterranean, and it possibly occurs in the adjacent Gulf of Cadiz. As for many members in Galeommatida, we hypothesize that “Draculamya” uraniae lives as commensal upon a still-unknown host. The possible co-identity of the extant genus Draculamya with the morphologically similar Pliocene Glibertia Van der Meulen, 1951, is discussed, although the lack of anatomical and genetic support leaves the problem open.