Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Subclass Autobranchia > Infraclass Heteroconchia > Subterclass Euheterodonta > Superorder Imparidentia > Order Venerida > Superfamily Arcticoidea > Family Arcticidae > Genus Arctica

Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767)

Rank: Species
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Arctica*	Schumacher, 1817	accepted genus name
*Cyprina*	Lamarck, 1818	synonym

Species group names

*Arctica vulgaris*	Schumacher, 1817	synonym
*Cyprina islandica*	(Linnaeus, 1767)	synonym
*Cyprina islandica var. crassior*	Jeffreys, 1864	synonym
*Cyprina islandica var. inflata*	Odhner, 1911	synonym
*Pectunculus crassus*	da Costa, 1778	synonym
*Venus buccardium*	Born, 1778	synonym
*Venus ferröensis*	Röding, 1798	synonym
*Venus islandica*	Linnaeus, 1767	synonym
*Venus pitar*	Röding, 1798	synonym

Vernaculars (+) (-)

Danish: molboøsters sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Dutch: noordkromp sources: Hayward, P.; Nelson-Smith, A.; Shields, C. (1999). Gids van kust en strand: flora en fauna [Coast and beach guide: flora and fauna]. Tirion: Baarn, Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-327-5. 352, ill. pp.

English: Iceland cyprina; Icelandic cyprine; ocean quahog sources: Lindner, G. (1999). Schelpengids: schelpen uit de wereldzeeën, vorm, voorkomen, systematiek [The shell guide: shells from the world oceans, shape, distribution and systematics]. Tirion: Baarn, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-409-3. 320 pp.;PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points;North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

French: cyprine d'Islande sources: VLIZ. (2016). Wetenschappelijke en handelsbenamingen voor visserij- en aquacultuurproducten op de Belgische markt. VLIZ Beleidsinformerende Nota's, BIN 2016_001. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Oostende. 28 + Annex. pp.

German: Islandmuschel sources: VLIZ. (2016). Wetenschappelijke en handelsbenamingen voor visserij- en aquacultuurproducten op de Belgische markt. VLIZ Beleidsinformerende Nota's, BIN 2016_001. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Oostende. 28 + Annex. pp.

Italian: vongola oceanica

Norwegian: kuskjell sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Norwegian Bokmål: kuskjell sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Norwegian Nynorsk: kuskjel sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Russian: циприна исландская sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Spanish, Castillian: almeja de Islandia sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Turkish: deniz tarağı

Literature

basis of record	Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213.
additional source	Lutz, R. A.; Mann, R.; Goodsell, J. G.; Castagna, M. (1982). Larval and early post-larval development of Arctica Islandica. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 62(4): 745-769.
additional source	Abbott, R. T. (1974). American seashells. The marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls. [October 1974].
additional source	Witbaard R., Duineveld G.C.A. & de Wilde P.A.W.J. (1997). A long-term growth record derived from Arctica islandica (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from the Fladen Ground (Northern North Sea). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 77: 801-816
additional source	Hawkins, C. M. & Angus, R. B. (1986). Preliminary observations on predation on ocean quahaugs, Arctica islandica, by Atlantic wolffish Anarhichas lupus. The Nautilus. 100(4): 126-129.
additional source	Dahlgren, T. G.; Weinberg, J. R.; Halanych, K. M. (2000). Phylogeography of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica): influences of paleoclimate on genetic diversity and species range. Marine Biology. 137(3): 487-495.
additional source	Huber, M. (2010). Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM.
additional source	Witbaard R., Duineveld G.C.A. & de Wilde P.A.W.J. (1999). Geographical differences in growth rates of Arctica islandica (Mollusca: Bivalvia) from the North Sea and adjacent waters. Journal of tha Marine Biological Association of the UK 79: 907-915
additional source	Russell, H. D. (1955). A new clam industry in New England. The Nautilus. 69(2): 53-56.
additional source	Landers, W. S. (1976). Reproduction and early development of the ocean quahog, Arctica islandica, in the laboratory. The Nautilus. 90(2): 88-92, figs. 1-3.
additional source	Jones, D. S. (1979). The nemertean, Malacobdella grossa, in the ocean quahog, Arctica islandica (Bivalvia). The Nautilus. 93(1): 29-30, fig. 1.
additional source	Witbaard, R. & Klein, R. (1994). Long-term trends on the effects of the southern North Sea beamtrawl fishery on the bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica L. (Mollusca, Bivalvia). ICES Journal of Marine Science. 51(1): 99-105.

Genbank

External Links

Marine Life Information Network - UK

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767). Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:138802