Fig. 6 k–m
Pecten subauriculata [sic] Montagu, 1808 (p. 63, pl. 29, fig. 2).
Lima subauriculata Montagu—Jeffreys 1879 (p. 564); Hidalgo 1917 (p. 387).
Lima (Limatula) subauriculata (Montagu) — Tebble 1966 (p. 68, text-figs. 28a–b); Di Geronimo & Panetta 1973 (p. 101, pl. 3, fig. 9).
Limatula subauriculata subauriculata (Montagu, 1808) — Nordsieck 1969 (p. 57, pl. 9, figs. 36.10–36.11).
Limatula subauriculata (Montagu, 1808) — Barash & Danin 1992 (p. 258, fig. 275); Cossignani et al. 1992 (fig. 299); Poppe & Goto 1993 (p. 77, pl. 12, fig. 8); Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. 2001 (p. 222, fig. 466); Repetto et al. 2005 (p. 304, bottom left fig); Beck et al. 2006 (p. 102, mid fig); Oliver et al. 2016 (online resource).
Diagnostic characters. High, oval, and almost equilateral shell; fan-shaped ligamental pit; even radial riblets; distinct median radial furrow on the right valve; strong median rib on the left valve. Prodissoconch: shell type ST- 2D; length about 120 µm; roundish D-shaped outline; convex profile; surface almost smooth; P-2 replaced by narrow shell lip; transition to the nepioconch well marked.
Occurrence. Box-corer samples BC05 (6 specimens), BC11 (1), BC66 (6), BC67 (4), BC71 (6), BC72 (71); cores BC04 (2), BC05 (6), BC21 (14), BC51 (6), BC67 (5), BC72 (20). Maximum height: 6 mm.
Distribution and habitat. Limatula subauriculata is distributed from Greenland to the Gulf of Mexico, the Canaries and the Mediterranean; it thrives on muddy sand to sandy gravel bottoms in a wide bathymetric range, from shallow infralittoral to about 3200 m depth (Tebble 1966; Nordsieck 1969; Barash & Danin 1992; Poppe & Goto 1993; Pons-Moyà & Pons 1999; Oliver et al. 2016). Mastrototaro et al. (2010) recorded the species already in the Santa Maria di Leuca CWC biotope.
Fossil record. Miocene to Recent (Monegatti & Raffi 2001); Pliocene of Italy (Monterosato 1872; Tabanelli 2008); Pleistocene of Calabria (Barrier et al. 1987) and Sardinia (Di Geronimo & Bellagamba 1985).