Lithophaga

Lithophaga
Temporal range: 225.0–0.0 Ma

Triassic to Recent

One valve of a shell of Lithophaga truncata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Subclass: Pteriomorphia
Order: Mytiloida
Family: Mytilidae
Genus: Lithophaga
Röding, 1798
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]

Lithophaga, the date mussels, are a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Some of the earliest fossil Lithophaga shells have been found in Mesozoic rocks from the Alps and from Vancouver Island,[2] [3]

The shells of species in this genus are long and narrow with parallel sides. The animals bore into stone or coral rock with the help of pallial gland secretions,[4] hence the systematic name Lithophaga, which means "stone-eater". Their club-shaped borings are given the trace fossil name Gastrochaenolites.[3]

Species

Species within the genus Lithophaga include:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References


  1. Gofas, Serge (2004). "Lithophaga Röding, 1798". World Register of Marine Species.
  2. Ludvigsen, Rolf & Beard, Graham. 1997. West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island. pg. 102
  3. 1 2 Kleemann, K.H., 1994. Mytilid bivalve Lithophaga in Upper Triassic coral Pamiroseris from Zlambach Beds compared with Cretaceous Lithophaga alpina. Facies 30, 151-154.
  4. "integument (mollusks)."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD
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