Swiftopecten swiftii

Lore & Background

Swiftopecten swifti has a shell composed of two convex valves, each with a few broad ribs radiating from the umbo, the rounded protuberance near the hinge. Beside the hinge are two irregular shell flaps or auricles, with the anterior one normally much larger than the other, providing attachment for the single strong adductor muscle that closes the shell. The background colour varies from pale brown and pink to pale purple with small clouds, and there are reports of a shiny pink line on its back, usually in the shape of a heart.

This species is native to the southern coasts of the Sea of Japan, in Western Sakhalin, Hokkaido and Honshu Island. It is a low-boreal species that lives attached by a byssus under rocks, preferring shallow near-bottom waters in intertidal areas at depths of 2–130 metres. Swift's scallop is a filter feeder, sieving microscopic algae from water that passes through its gills.

Reader's Guide

Swiftopecten swifti is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae, occurring in the northern Pacific Ocean. Its significance lies in its distinctive physical characteristics, including a fan-shaped shell reaching up to 130 millimetres, with a variable background colour of pale brown, pink, or pale purple, and the reported presence of a shiny pink line often shaped like a heart. The species is a low-boreal organism, native to the southern coasts of the Sea of Japan, Western Sakhalin, Hokkaido, and Honshu Island, where it lives attached by a byssus under rocks in shallow intertidal waters at depths of 2–130 metres. As a filter feeder, it sieves microscopic algae from water passing through its gills, and it can live up to 13 years. The article does not discuss any broader ecological or economic legacy beyond these biological and distributional facts.

Did You Know?

• Swiftopecten swifti can live up to 13 years.
• Its shell can reach a maximum size of 130 millimetres.