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Contributions to the marine fauna od the Rijeka Bay (Adriatic Sea) 3 Bivalvia

The publication of Grube (1861) provided the first information about bivalve mollusks in Rijeka Bay. In the next hundred years bivalve knowledge enlarged through investigations carried out in the wider Kvarner region. In the period from 1961 to 1996, the data on bivalve species are derived from biocoenological investigations and occasional personal samplings. According to the available data in Rijeka Bay 105 bivalve species were established, that is about 50% species registered in the entire Adriatic Sea. Among them 26 species were for the first time collected in Rijeka Bay, but they have been already known species in other eastern Adriatic localities. More than 90% bivalves of Rijeka Bay belong to the Atlantic Mediterranean biogeographical region. Bivalves are an important faunal component inhabiting various types of bottom communities from the tidal zone down to 64m depth i.e. the greatest depth of bivalve findings. In Rijeka Bay several bivalve species were abundant on the medio- and infralittoral rocky bottoms. From sedimentary bottoms, mostly inhabited by endofaunal species, predominantly empty bivalve shells were collected from the surface layer. Some bivalve species, abundant in other Adriatic regions, were sampled with a few individuals from small communities developed on restricted favorable substrata. In spite of the high number of explored stations and recorded bivalve species, Rijeka Bay is still considered as an insufficiently investigated area.

Bivalve; species classification; distribution

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