Australian scallop

Pecten fumatus

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0 m
Water temperature14–27 °C
Best monthsJanuary, September, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Pecten fumatus, the commercial scallop, is a species of bivalve belonging to the family Pectinidae, the scallops. It is endemic to Australia, distributed from Keppel Bay and Swain Reefs, Queensland, southwards and around southern Australia, including Tasmania, to North West Cape, Western Australia. This species is the target of a dredge fishery in the Bass Strait off southern Australia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pecten fumatus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 242 records
February: 178 records
March: 184 records
April: 195 records
May: 161 records
June: 165 records
July: 197 records
August: 186 records
September: 242 records
October: 234 records
November: 136 records
December: 184 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0 m · Deepest record: 100 m

0–10 m: 222 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–27 °C

12–14 °C: 45 records
14–16 °C: 118 records
16–18 °C: 27 records
18–20 °C: 22 records
20–22 °C: 75 records
22–24 °C: 48 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nathan Odgers, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rod Lowther, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Australian scallop, Commercial Scallop

Names in 1 more languages

German: Australische Jakobsmuschel

Other scientific names: Notovola preissiana, Pecten (Pecten) medius, Pecten alba, Pecten albus, Pecten bifidus, Pecten filosus, Pecten fuscus, Pecten lamarckii, Pecten medius, Pecten meridionalis, Pecten modestus, Vola laticostata

Similar species

New Zealand scallop
Pecten novaezelandiae
Japanese baking scallop
Pecten albicans
Pecten benedictus
Asian moon scallop
Amusium pleuronectes
Queen Scallop
Equichlamys bifrons
Mantle scallop
Gloripallium pallium

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,280 open-data records from 1880 to 2017.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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