Identifikasi Kerang Kapah Di Pantai Timur Pulau Tarakan

Abstract

We identified the species of “kerang kapah†(hard clam) using the Gel Electrophoresis SDS Page, in
order to clarify the species of kerang kapah those found living along the East Coast of Tarakan
Island. The study was conducted from July to December 2014. The kerang kapah were collected
from the several parts of East Coast Tarakan Island. Eight group samples of kerang kapah were
used for Gel Electrophoresis SDS Page and scanned using the IMAGE software. Generally, the
kerang kapah those found at the shouth part of East Coast of Tarakan Island have very similar
morphologies and shell colors, making species identification difficult.  Four species of kerang kapah
were identified. Three species belong to Veneridae and one species belong to Corbiludae. The
species of Veneridae were Meretrix meretrix, Meretrix lyrata, and Meretrix sp. The species karang
kapah belong to Corbiludae is Polymesoda erusa.

Keywords: kerang kapah, meretrix, polymesoda, gel electrophoresis.