Image of Parapholas Conrad 1848

Description:

The anterior end of the shell gapes widely to give room for the foot to extend. This view shows the shell of an individual in place in a broken piece of shale. I turned the broken rock over so the interior end of the burrow is exposed. A burrow of a neighboring individual can be seen below, and the shell of another neighbor appears to the right. Note the large myophores (apophyses), to which the foot anchors, inside the shell. The burrow becomes more narrow toward the entrance, which cannot be seen here but is down and to the right. If this individual were fully mature a calcareous callum would have grown over the large anterior gape which is visible here.