Dreissenidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iDreissenidae
Dreissena polymorpha
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Subclass: Heterodonta
Order: Veneroida
Superfamily: Dreissenoidea
Family: Dreissenidae
Genera

Dreissena
Mytilopsis
Congeria

Dreissenidae Morphology. Mussels, enclosed by a hinged, bivalve shell.

Eyes absent (the animal with no head). Attaching to stones, etc., via a byssus.

The shell 25–40 mm in its maximum dimension; 25–40 mm wide (and about half as long across). The shell bent, with one margin quite sharply incurved and the other strongly curved outwardly. The shell opaque (and robust); yellowish, brownish or greyish, often with light-and-dark stripes.

General biology, ecology. Freshwater aquatic. Breathing via complex gills. In clean, well oxygenated, lowland rivers, canals and reservoirs, attaching to stones and other hard surfaces; sometimes in slightly brackish water.

Classification. Bivalvia.

British representation. Dreissena (1, “Zebra mussel”).


  This mollusc-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
In other languages