De tapijtschelp Venerupis senegalensis in veen op Terschelling, of: Leeft Venerupis saxatilis in Nederland?

A specimen of the Carpet shell Venerupis senegalensis (Gmelin) was found in a borehole in a lump of peat washed ashore on the Dutch Isle of Terschelling. This specimen has a sculpture of strongly corrugated ridges and grooves on the posterior margin o fthe shell, rather different from that in burrowing specimens of V. senegalensis. Some authors treat this form as a separate species, V. saxatilis (Fleuriau de Belleveu), but it is now more generally considered an ecophenotypic form of V. senegalensis. The sculpture of both forms is illustrated.