WoRMS taxon details
Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834)
156803 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:156803)
accepted
Species
Cyrena purpurea H. C. Lea, 1842 · unaccepted (junior synonym)
Gemma fretensis Rehder, 1939 · unaccepted
Gemma gemma purpurea (H. C. Lea, 1842) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Gemma purpurea (H. C. Lea, 1842) · unaccepted
Gemma tottenii W. Stimpson, 1860 · unaccepted
Parastarte concentrica Dall, 1889 · unaccepted > nomen nudum
Venus (Gemma) manhattensis Prime, 1862 · unaccepted (junior synonym)
Venus gemma Totten, 1834 · unaccepted
Venus manhattensis Prime, 1862 · unaccepted (junior synonym)
- Subspecies Gemma gemma purpurea (H. C. Lea, 1842) accepted as Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
marine
(of Venus gemma Totten, 1834) Totten J.G. (1834). Description of some new shells, belonging to the coast of New England. <em>American Journal of Science and Arts.</em> 26: 366-369, 1 pl., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30989159
page(s): 367; plate Fig. 2 [details]
page(s): 367; plate Fig. 2 [details]
Distribution Gulf of St. Lawrence (unspecified region), southern Gaspe waters (Baie des Chaleurs, Gaspe Bay to American, Orphan and...
Distribution Gulf of St. Lawrence (unspecified region), southern Gaspe waters (Baie des Chaleurs, Gaspe Bay to American, Orphan and Bradelle banks; eastern boundary: eastern Bradelle valley), downstream part of middle St. Lawrence estuary, Magdalen Islands (from eastern Bradelle valley to the west, as far as Cape North, including the Cape Breton Channel), lower St. Lawrence estuary, Prince Edward Island (from the northern tip of Miscou Island, N.B. to Cape Breton Island south of Cheticamp, including the Northumberland Strait and Georges Bay to the Canso Strait causeway), middle North Shore (from Sept- Iles to Cape Whittle, including the Mingan Islands), lower North Shore; western slope of Newfoundland, including the southern part of the Strait of Belle Isle but excluding the upper 50m in the area southwest of Newfoundland; Nova Scotia to Florida, Texas and the Bahamas; Puget Sound, Washington (introduced) [details]
MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=156803 on 2025-04-01
The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 License
Nomenclature
original description
(of Cyrena purpurea H. C. Lea, 1842) Lea, H.C. (1842). Descriptions of eight new species of shells native to the United States. <em>The American Journal of Science and Arts.</em> 42: 106-112., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30869140
page(s): 106-107, pl. 1, fig. 1 [details]
original description (of Gemma tottenii W. Stimpson, 1860) Stimpson, W. (1860). Checklist of the Shells of North America. East Coast: Arctic Seas to Georgia. <em>Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections.</em> , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9065630
page(s): 3; note: Unnecessary replacement name for Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834), presumably because of tautonymy. [details]
original description (of Parastarte concentrica Dall, 1889) Dall, W. H. (1889). A preliminary catalogue of shell-bearing marine mollusks and brachiopods of the south-eastern coast of the United States, with illustrations of many of the species. <em>Bulletin of the United States National Museum.</em> 37: 1–221, 74 pls., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/100815
page(s): 48; note: Nude name. [details]
original description (of Gemma fretensis Rehder, 1939) Rehder, H. A. (1939). New marine mollusks from the west Atlantic. <em>The Nautilus.</em> 53(1): 16-21, pl. 6., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8516292
page(s): 18, pl. 6, figs 8-9 [details]
original description (of Venus gemma Totten, 1834) Totten J.G. (1834). Description of some new shells, belonging to the coast of New England. <em>American Journal of Science and Arts.</em> 26: 366-369, 1 pl., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30989159
page(s): 367; plate Fig. 2 [details]
original description (of Venus (Gemma) manhattensis Prime, 1862) Prime, T. (1862). Description of a new species of Mollusca of the genus <i>Venus</i>. <em>Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York.</em> 7: 482-483, text-figures., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16227949#page/513/mode/1up [details]
basis of record Abbott, R. T. (1974). <i>American seashells. The marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America</i>. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls. [October 1974]. (look up in IMIS) [details]
basis of record Sellmer, G.P. (1967). Functional morphology and ecological life history of the gem clam, <i>Gemma gemma</i> (Eulamellibranchia: Veneridae). <em>Malacologia.</em> 5(2): 137-223., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13094132 [details]
page(s): 106-107, pl. 1, fig. 1 [details]
original description (of Gemma tottenii W. Stimpson, 1860) Stimpson, W. (1860). Checklist of the Shells of North America. East Coast: Arctic Seas to Georgia. <em>Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections.</em> , available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9065630
page(s): 3; note: Unnecessary replacement name for Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834), presumably because of tautonymy. [details]
original description (of Parastarte concentrica Dall, 1889) Dall, W. H. (1889). A preliminary catalogue of shell-bearing marine mollusks and brachiopods of the south-eastern coast of the United States, with illustrations of many of the species. <em>Bulletin of the United States National Museum.</em> 37: 1–221, 74 pls., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/100815
page(s): 48; note: Nude name. [details]
original description (of Gemma fretensis Rehder, 1939) Rehder, H. A. (1939). New marine mollusks from the west Atlantic. <em>The Nautilus.</em> 53(1): 16-21, pl. 6., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8516292
page(s): 18, pl. 6, figs 8-9 [details]
original description (of Venus gemma Totten, 1834) Totten J.G. (1834). Description of some new shells, belonging to the coast of New England. <em>American Journal of Science and Arts.</em> 26: 366-369, 1 pl., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30989159
page(s): 367; plate Fig. 2 [details]
original description (of Venus (Gemma) manhattensis Prime, 1862) Prime, T. (1862). Description of a new species of Mollusca of the genus <i>Venus</i>. <em>Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York.</em> 7: 482-483, text-figures., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16227949#page/513/mode/1up [details]
basis of record Abbott, R. T. (1974). <i>American seashells. The marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America</i>. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls. [October 1974]. (look up in IMIS) [details]
basis of record Sellmer, G.P. (1967). Functional morphology and ecological life history of the gem clam, <i>Gemma gemma</i> (Eulamellibranchia: Veneridae). <em>Malacologia.</em> 5(2): 137-223., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13094132 [details]
Other
context source (Introduced species)
Molnar, J.L., R.L. Gamboa, C. Revenga & M.D. Spalding. (2008). Assessing the global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity. <em>Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.</em> 6(9): 485-492., available online at https://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationPractices/Marine/Pages/marineinvasives.aspx [details] Available for editors 
[request]
additional source Commito, J. A.; Currier, C. A.; Kane, L. R.; Reinsel, K. A.; Ulm, I. M. (1995). Dispersal dynamics of the bivalve <i>Gemma gemma</i> in a patchy environment. <em>Ecological Monographs.</em> 65(1): 1-20., available online at https://doi.org/10.2307/2937157 [details] Available for editors [request]
additional source Hinkley, A. A. (1909). Variation. <em>The Nautilus.</em> 23(1): 15-16., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5314591
page(s): 16 [details]
additional source Huber, M. (2010). <i>Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research</i>. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM. (look up in IMIS) [details]
[request]additional source Commito, J. A.; Currier, C. A.; Kane, L. R.; Reinsel, K. A.; Ulm, I. M. (1995). Dispersal dynamics of the bivalve <i>Gemma gemma</i> in a patchy environment. <em>Ecological Monographs.</em> 65(1): 1-20., available online at https://doi.org/10.2307/2937157 [details] Available for editors
[request]additional source Hinkley, A. A. (1909). Variation. <em>The Nautilus.</em> 23(1): 15-16., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5314591
page(s): 16 [details]
additional source Huber, M. (2010). <i>Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research</i>. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM. (look up in IMIS) [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From regional or thematic species database
Introduced species vector dispersal United States part of the North Pacific Ocean (Marine Region) Aquaculture: accidental [details]Unreviewed
Distribution Gulf of St. Lawrence (unspecified region), southern Gaspe waters (Baie des Chaleurs, Gaspe Bay to American, Orphan and Bradelle banks; eastern boundary: eastern Bradelle valley), downstream part of middle St. Lawrence estuary, Magdalen Islands (from eastern Bradelle valley to the west, as far as Cape North, including the Cape Breton Channel), lower St. Lawrence estuary, Prince Edward Island (from the northern tip of Miscou Island, N.B. to Cape Breton Island south of Cheticamp, including the Northumberland Strait and Georges Bay to the Canso Strait causeway), middle North Shore (from Sept- Iles to Cape Whittle, including the Mingan Islands), lower North Shore; western slope of Newfoundland, including the southern part of the Strait of Belle Isle but excluding the upper 50m in the area southwest of Newfoundland; Nova Scotia to Florida, Texas and the Bahamas; Puget Sound, Washington (introduced) [details]Habitat bathyal, infralittoral and circalittoral of the Gulf and estuary [details]
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| English | amethyst gemclam | [details] |
| French | gemme améthyste | [details] |
| German | Amethystmuschel | [details] |
To Barcode of Life (17 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (146 publications)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (2 publications) (from synonym Venus manhattensis Prime, 1862)
To Conchology (Gemma gemma)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Gemma gemma)
To GenBank (53 nucleotides; 46 proteins)
To Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI)
To Global Invasive Species Database (GISD)
To Malacopics (Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834) United States, Connecticut, Guilford, low tide, collecte...
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection (from synonym Cyrena purpurea H. C. Lea, 1842)
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection (from synonym Gemma fretensis Rehder, 1939)
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection
To Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (YPM IZ 097756)
To ITIS
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (146 publications)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (2 publications) (from synonym Venus manhattensis Prime, 1862)
To Conchology (Gemma gemma)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Gemma gemma)
To GenBank (53 nucleotides; 46 proteins)
To Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI)
To Global Invasive Species Database (GISD)
To Malacopics (Gemma gemma (Totten, 1834) United States, Connecticut, Guilford, low tide, collecte...
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection (from synonym Cyrena purpurea H. C. Lea, 1842)
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection (from synonym Gemma fretensis Rehder, 1939)
To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection
To Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (YPM IZ 097756)
To ITIS
