An Illustrated checklist of the intertidal bivalvia of the state of Kuwait

This checklist is the first illustrated compilation of the intertidal Bivalvia of Kuwait and is intended to function as a basic taxonomic tool for biologists and shellers alike. For the latter and those with a general interest we have included all species found on the shore either living or as dead shells only. It is also an open access precursor to an intended atlas by Dr Manal Al-K andari that would include descriptions, differential diagnoses, detailed illustrations and distribution maps. However, much taxonomic research remains to be done before such a definitive atlas can be produced. The most relevant guide for the Arabian Gulf is Dance et al. (1995) but it is not specific to Kuwait and the nomenclature is now rather out of date. Jones’s field guide (Jones, 1986) contains only a fraction of the molluscan fauna, and it is now taxonomically outdated. The impetus for this checklist arises out of the taxonomic work required to support a survey of the intertidal fauna of Kuwait carried out by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, from 2013 through to 2018. The results on the Mollusca were submitted by Oliver (2014, 2015a, b, 2016, 2017a, b, 2019) and a summary was published in 2020 (Al-Kandari, et al., 2020). Further collecting took place in November/December of 2019 and this added considerably to the number of species, although most were recovered dead from the strandline. Taxonomic research resulting from the most recent KISR survey is ongoing, already published are papers on oysters (Al-K andari, Oliver et al. 2021: Salvi, Al-K andari et al. 2022, 2023); nudibranchs (Nithyanandan, Al-K andari & Mantha, 2021) and on a tellinid in the genus Pseudopsammobia (Oliver, Al-K andari & Dekker 2023).

• View at Publisher

Full Text ( Final Version , 22mb )