Mactridae Temporal range: Cretaceous to Present |
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Shell of Spisula solida | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Bivalvia |
Order: | Veneroida |
Family: | Mactridae Lamarck, 1809 |
Genera | |
See text. |
Mactridae, also known as trough shells or duck clams, is a family of marine bivalve clams of the order Veneroida.
Trough shells burrow in sand or fine gravel and never in muddy substrates. They have two short siphons, each with a horny sheath. The shell is shaped like a rounded-cornered equilateral triangle and there is a slight gape at the posterior. Each valve bears two cardinal teeth with four lateral teeth on the right valve and two on the left. The foot is white and wedge-shaped. They mostly inhabit the neritic zone.[1]