Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Bivalve Seashells of Western North America

Bivalve Seashells of Western North America (currently out of print) is the most comprehensive book ever written on Pacific Ocean bivalves. This is a “must have publication” for malacologists, paleontologists, archeologists, libraries, shellfishery and environmental scientists, and shell collectors.

The culmination of a ten-year study, it treats all bivalve mollusks living from northern Baja California, Mexico to Arctic Alaska. A total of 472 species are described and illustrated with detailed photographs and drawings. All habitats in the region are included from the intertidal splash zone to the abyssal depths of the ocean basins.

The book has over 4,800 complete bibliographic references to the bivalves including citations on the biology, physiology, ecology, and taxonomy of this commercially and biologically important group. Character tables and dichotomous keys assist the reader in identification. Also included in the 764-page book is an illustrated key to the superfamiles of the region, and a complete glossary.