Laternula elliptica (P. P. King, 1832 )

25. Laternula elliptica (P. P. King, 1832) View in CoL [ Figs 11C–D View FIGURE 11 ]

Anatina elliptica P. P. King, 1832: 335

Material examined. • 1 empty double valve, Stn. 4; • 1 spm, Stn. 7; • 5 spms, Stn. 8; • 11 spms, Stn. 12; • 1 spm, Stn. 14.

Type locality. South Shetland Islands.

Bathymetric distribution. 1–508 m.

Substrate. Soft bottom.

Geographical distribution. ANTARCTICA: Circum-Antarctic. SUBANTARCTICA: Kerguelen Islands. SCOTIA ARC: South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands. SOUTH AMERICA: -.

Remarks. It is probably the largest species found in Antarctic waters. The species grows to over 80 mm and burrows deep into the soft bottom. Our largest specimen measured 55 mm. We found L. elliptica in depths between 15 and 70 m, but our method (dredge) was only partially suitable for scraping animals out of the sediment. The species is already known from the Maxwell and Admiralty Bays. The species reached an abundance of up to 30 individuals per square metre in depths deeper than 10 m in the neighbouring Admiralty Bay ( Nonato et al. 2000). This species is always deeply buried, and only their siphons are detectable ( Passos et al. 2022).

References. Rauschert (1991), Nonato et al. (2000), Troncoso et al. (2001), Engl (2012), Huber (2015), Aldea et al. (2016), Egorova (2019), Passos et al. (2022).