Modiolus hanleyi (Dunker, 1882)

Habitat. Lives in a nest of coral fragments and sand aggregated by fine byssus threads, semi-buried in areas of sand and coral rubble.

Distribution. Dead shells can be found throughout the lagoon especially around Passe Grand Bassin but the only living example was found among rubble close to the reef edge off Ile Hermitage.

Remarks. This is one of the few large shells not recorded from other Mascarene Islands but it agrees well with the figures in Lamprell and Healy (1998).