About Atactodea striata (Gmelin, 1791)
Atactodea striata (Gmelin, 1791) is a small mesodesmatid bivalve, commonly found in large numbers. Members of the Atactodea genus are relatively strongly marked with concentric ribs. This species is distributed across atoll lagoons throughout the Indo-Pacific, including Madagascar, India, Viet Nam, China, Philippines, Tarawa, Malaysia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Fiji, Japan (as far north as the Kii Peninsula, Honshu), and Vanuatu. It has been introduced to the Mediterranean Sea in the coastal areas of Israel and Malta. It lives in sandy substrates within the intertidal zone, and this small surf clam can occur in large abundances on high intertidal lagoon beaches. The species is easy to collect via foraging on inshore tidal flats, in mangroves, and among rocks. Archaeological evidence shows that Atactodea striata was used as a subsistence food by the Lapita, a Neolithic people of the South Pacific, at least 4,700 years ago. It is among the most common bivalves found in 2000-year-old shell middens in Papua New Guinea, and also in more recent shell middens in Australia. Known as "Alure" in South Vanuatu languages, Atactodea striata is harvested as a minor subsistence food by the indigenous people of Vanuatu. Harvesting of this species, which is mostly done by women, is done by gleaning intertidal zones. Women fishers walk along shorelines and in shallow water to collect Atactodea striata alongside a range of other common clams, bivalves, crabs, chitons, sea slugs, anemones, and octopuses. On Tarawa, indigenous people harvest Atactodea striata to use as a preferred baby food, due to its small size.
