UNGULINIDAE, Gray, 1854

Oliver, P. Graham, Holmes, Anna, Killeen, Ian, Light, Janice & Wood, Harriet, 2004, Annotated checklist of the marine Bivalvia of Rodrigues, Journal of Natural History 38 (23), pp. 3229-3272 : 3248

UNGULINIDAE

(Superfamily unresolved) Diplodonta lateralis Smith, 1876

Habitat. Burrowing in muddy sand to a depth of 15 cm from low in the littoral and sublittoral.

Distribution. Found living beyond the mangroves in Anse Pansia but valves can be found scattered throughout the lagoon.

Remarks. We have retained the name given by Smith (1876) for the Rodrigues shells but note the similarity to D. subrotundata Issel, 1869 . Kilburn (1996) retains D. lateralis for one southern African species but does not consider the name subrotundata. Further research is needed to clarify potential synonymy.

Range. If subrotundata then western Indian Ocean, if lateralis then south-east Africa and Mascarenes [R/M/S].

Figured specimen. 18.6 mm, NMW.Z.1999.073.00023.