Plicatulidae

Kittenpaws
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreoida
Suborder: Pectinoida
Superfamily: Plicatuloidea
Family: Plicatulidae
Wilson 1930
Genus: Plicatula
Species

7, See text.

The Plicatulidae are a family of saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks, known commonly as kitten's paws or kittenpaws.[1] These bivalves are related to oysters and scallops. The family is monotypic, having a single genus, with seven species.

Description

Plicatulidae are small, with weakly convex shells which are irregularly oval or even almost triangular. Typically, they attach themselves to a hard surface by the right valve. The ligament is internal and triangular.

Genus and species

References

  1. Abbott, R.T. & Morris, P.A. A Field Guide to Shells: Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. 34.
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