Philobrya meleagrina is a small saltwater clam, a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 bivalve mollusc in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Philobryidae

Philobryidae

Philobryidae is a family of bivalves, related to the ark clams and bittersweets. Species are found in most seas, in shallow to moderately deep water...

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Distribution

This species is endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, found around Stewart Island, The Snares

The Snares

Snares Islands/Tini Heke is a small island group situated approximately 200 kilometres south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-south-west of Stewart Island/Rakiura. The Snares consist of the main island North East Island and the smaller Broughton Island as well as the somewhat...

, the Chatham Islands

Chatham Islands

The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...

, and the southern part of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

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Habitat

This species is found at depths of between 65 and 90 m.

The maximum shell height is 2.5 mm, width 2.5 mm, and thickness 1.1 mm.

The species was first described without accompanying figures by Felix Bernard under the name Hochstetteria meleagrina Bernard, 1896. One year later the same author transferred it to the genus Philobrya and supplied drawings.

The type specimens were dredged by Henri Filhol

Henri Filhol

Henri Filhol was a French medical doctor, malacologist and naturalist. He served as the expedition doctor and naturalist on the French 1874 Transit of Venus expedition to Campbell Island, New Zealand, with a peak on the island, Filhol Peak, being named after him...

 (1876) from sandy bottom at 35 fathoms (ca. 64 m) depth, in the vicinity of Stewart Island (around 46º50’S and 167º50’E). The types are housed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...

, Paris, France.