Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Subclass Autobranchia > Infraclass Pteriomorphia > Order Arcida > Superfamily Arcoidea > Family Arcidae

Arca Linnaeus, 1758

Rank: Genus
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Arca (Arca)*	Linnaeus, 1758	synonym; alternate representation

Children

Arca fusca [Lightfoot], 1786
Arca noae Linnaeus, 1758
Arca pallens Linnaeus, 1758
Arca pulchella Gmelin, 1791
Arca weinkauffi Crosse, 1862

Vernaculars (+) (-)

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

Norwegian Nynorsk: arkskjel

Literature

original description	Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places.]. Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. 1(10) [iii], 824 p.
additional source	Coan, E. V.; Valentich-Scott, P. (2012). Bivalve seashells of tropical West America. Marine bivalve mollusks from Baja California to northern Peru. 2 vols, 1258 pp.
additional source	Lamy, E. (1907). Révision des Arca vivants du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Journal de Conchyliologie. 55(1): 1-111, pl. 1 [15 June 1907]; 55(3): 199-307, pl. 3 [25 September 1907].
additional source	Valentich-Scott, P.; Coan, E. V.; Zelaya, D. (2020). Bivalve seashells of western South America. Marine bivalve mollusks from Punta Aguja, Peru to Isla Chiloé, Chile. Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. vii + 593 pp.
taxonomy source	Vermeij, G.; Amano, K. (2021). The genera Tetrarca (Subfamily Cuculaeinae), Arca, and Lamarcka, new genus (Subfamily Arcinae), with special reference to the history of cold adaptation in North Pacific Tetrarca boucardi (Bivalvia: Arcidae). The Nautilus. 135(2): 42–46.
subsequent type designation	ICZN. (1945). Opinion 189. Suspension of the rules for Arca Linnaeus, 1758 (Class Pelecypoda, Order Filibranchiata). Opinions and declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 3 (8): 93-108.

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Arca Linnaeus, 1758. 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:137670