Pecten fumatus

Commercial scallop

Pecten fumatus, Hobart, TAS, Photo: Graham Edgar

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Same Genus

Pecten maximus

Distribution

Temperate Australasia

Description

Left (i.e. uppermost) valve is flat, the right valveis ashtray-shaped and 12-16 radial ribs. It differs from other local species in that the wings are mirror images of each other. Larval scallops drift among plankton for up to six weeks. They then settle and fix themselves to a hard substrate, detaching and moving onto sediment when they reach about 6 mm in length. Growth studies indicate that animals reach about 70 mm after two years but then grow slowly, and that the largest animals are about 15 years old. As indicated by its common name, this has traditionally been the main species targeted by scallop fishermen. Most inshore populations have been overexploited and devastated during the past half-century, and fishermen have needed to move further and further offshore in search of commercial scallop beds.

Information

Max Size: 15 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 12-20.6°C

Depth: 0-80m

Habitat Generalization Index: N/A

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.

Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Not Evaluated

Occurrence: Infrequent (2.1% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Few (2 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.

Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney