Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Original Description
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“Annachlamys flabellata (Lamarck, 1819)

Synonyms: Pecten leopardus Reeve, 1853; Pecten kuhnholtzi Bernardi, 1884; Annachlamys leopardus rena Iredale, 1939; Annachlamys melica Iredale, 1939.

Shell length to 100 mm; moderately compressed; right valve slightly more inflated than the left. Sculpture: about 18-20 strong radial ribs with interstices of about the same width; shell surface densely covered with fine concentric lamellae; right valve with broader ribs and narrower interstices. Colour: right valve white; left variably patterned with pink on the ribs. Habitat: sand, to 127 metres. Distribution: northern New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory to Western Australia.

Note: The form rena differs from flabellata in that it is smaller, more circular, slightly more inflated particularly in the left valve; ribs of the right valve are smooth, the concentric sculpture being confined to the interstices, externally on the left valve, the shell is frequently coloured orange at the umbones and nebulously patterned over the surface with orange-red; interior colour yellow. The form melica differs from flabellata in that the concentric sculpture is much stronger and more widely spaced on both valves than in eastern Australian specimens.”

(Lamprell & Whitehead, 1992)