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Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Family Anomiidae
Mangrove jingle clam
Enigmonia aenigmatica
Family Anomiidae
updated May 2020
Where seen? Like shiny scales, this animal is commonly seen in groups of a few individuals on leaves, trunks and roots of mangrove trees. It usually settles at a height between the high spring and high neap tide.

Features:
To about 3cm. The two-part shell is thin and lustrous. Usually oval, sometimes irregular. Colours range from beige, purplish to blackish. One valve is stuck to a hard surface (leaves, tree trunk, roots) and this valve is usually flat. The other valve is usually slightly conical in shape. The valve that is stuck to the hard surface has a notch or hole in it. The animal secretes byssus threads through the hole to stick to the hard surface.

Sometimes called the tree-climbing clam, the young animal is more mobile and can move around by using its extendible foot. A young animal is relatively broader than a more mature animal.

Lim Chu Kang, Jan 04

Seletar, Jun 02

Mangrove jingle clams on Singapore shores
On wildsingapore flickr

Links References
  • Sigurdsson, J.B. & Sundari, G. Colour changes in the shell of the tree-climbing bivalve Enigmonia aenigatica (Holten, 1802) (Anomiidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 38 (2): Pp. 213-218.
  • Tan Siong Kiat and Henrietta P. M. Woo, 2010 Preliminary Checklist of The Molluscs of Singapore (pdf), Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore.
  • Tan, K. S. & L. M. Chou, 2000. A Guide to the Common Seashells of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre. 160 pp.
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