Mactridae

Mactridae
Temporal range: Cretaceous to Present
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.

Characteristics

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]

Genera

References

  1. ^ Barrett, J. H. and C. M. Yonge, 1958. Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore. P. 156. Collins, London