“LIMA (LIMATULA) HODGSONI.
(Pl. III., figs. 8-8b.)
Shell oblong, oblique, narrow above, rather convex, thin, white; anterior side more curved than the posterior; ventral margin arcuate, curving obliquely upwards behind; surface ornamented with 30-35 fine ribs, which are very finely scaled by being crossed by the lines of growth (fig. 8b); the ribs are rather broader than the intervening grooves, and do not occur on the auricles, which are only sculptured with the incremental striæ; the scales are very close-set, and only very little elevated; interior of the valves radiately sulcate, slightly denticulate along the lower margin; umbones central, a little prominent above the ligamental area, which is very narrow diamond-shaped.
Length, 27.5 millim.; height, 35; diam., 20.
Winter Quarters, various dates, 10-130 fathoms, also off Coulman Island, 100 fathoms.
Allied to Lima pygmæa Philippi, but much larger, of a rather different form, being broader beneath and much more contracted above. The ribs, also, in the present species are broader and much more beautifully squamate.”
(Smith, 1907: 6)
Limatula hodgsoni is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Limidae, the file shells or file clams. It is native to the seas around Antarctica.
Limatula hodgsoni grows to a length of 27 mm (1.1 in), a height of 35 mm (1.4 in) and a diameter of 20 mm (0.8 in). The shell is white, oblong, thin, narrow above and somewhat convex; the posterior side is less curved than the anterior. The umbones are central and the ligament area is narrow and diamond-shaped. The valves are sculpted by 30 to 35 squamate ribs separated by grooves slightly narrower than the ribs. The ribs are finely marked by the annual growth lines.[2]
Limatula hodgsoni is found on the seabed of the waters around Antarctica at depths down to at least 769 m (2,500 ft).[2] It is very common in the zone deeper than 33 m (110 ft) which is the lower limit for anchor ice formation. In some areas, this zone is characterised by a layer of sponge spicules and dead mollusc shells a metre or more thick, overgrown by living sponges. This matrix is a biodiverse habitat rich in sea anemones, polychaete worms, hydroids, bryozoans and molluscs.[3] Limatula hodgsoni is the most abundant bivalve mollusc in this habitat and is preyed on by the starfishes Odontaster validus and Diplasterias brucei.[4]
Limatula hodgsoni is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Limidae, the file shells or file clams. It is native to the seas around Antarctica.
