|
Related FAQs: Bivalves, Bivalves 2, & Bivalve Identification, Bivalve Behavior, Bivalve Compatibility, Bivalve Selection, Bivalve Systems, Bivalve Feeding, Bivalve Disease, Bivalve Reproduction, Tridacnids, Tridacnid Clam Business, Tridacnid Identification, Tridacnid Selection, Tridacnid Compatibility, Tridacnid Systems, Tridacnid Lighting, Tridacnid Placement, Tridacnid Feeding, Tridacnid Disease, Tridacnid Reproduction, Flame Scallops, Related Articles: Mollusks, Giant Clams/Tridacnids, /The Conscientious Marine Aquarist Bivalves: Clams, Oysters, Mussels... Class Bivalvia | 
| By Bob Fenner |
Spondylus varians, Fiji |
Bivalve Mollusks: Shellfish with two opposing shells that are hinged at one end with an elastic byssal material and brought together with attached muscles. May be attached to hard substrates, burrowed into same or wood, buried in sand, mud or free-living, able to jettison about with powerful discharges of water from their exhalant siphons. Most bivalves are filter-feeders, sifting food through their gills, which also function as respiratory organs. Some notable aquarium species, the giant clams (family Tridacnidae) utilize endosymbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) to produce food through exposing their mantles to bright light. About 7,700 species worldwide... Some 129 in Hawaiian waters of which 66 are endemic. Ark Shells, Family Archidae: Have a row of fine teeth along the hinge line of their solid ribbed shells. Some attached, others living in sand. Twelve Hawaiian species. | Arca ventricosa Lamarck 1819, the Ventricose Ark Shell. One of eight species found in HI. Found through-out Indo-Pacific attached to rocks with straight hinge facing outwards. to eighty feet in depth, three inches in length. A dead shell and a live, attached animal off of the Big Island, Hawai'i. |  
|
Pen Shells, Family Pinnidae: Winglike, triangular in shape, anchored, pointing with their sharp ends into the soft substrate. | Atrina pectinata (Linnaeus 1767), the Pen Shell. India to Australia; Indonesia, Philippines, Japan. There are other species called Pen Shells, and some of these make their way into the ornamental trade. Typical appearance in an aquarium, mounted vertically, but the Seastar is not a friend and image in the wild, Maldives showing the dark mantle from a view above. |  
|
| Dendostea frons, the Frond Oyster. Tropical West Atlantic. To two and a half inches in length. A couple off of St. Lucia attached to an octocoral skeleton, and another off of St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. Note zig-zag interlocking valves. |  
|
| Hyotissa hyotis (Linnaeus 1758), the Honeycomb Oyster. South Africa to the Red Sea, out to New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines. This group in Pulau Redang, Malaysia. | 
|
|
Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |   |
Flame Scallops that are not. Pen Shells, family Limidae: A popular item, particularly Lima scabra out of the Caribbean. Most all of these die in short order from starvation. Need frequent "immersion type" feedings... daily. | Lima (Limaria) scabra (Born 1778), sold as "Flame Scallops" in the aquarium interest, this is aka the Rough Fileclam of the Penshell family Limidae. Can "swim away" if threatened. A beautiful animal that generally starves in captivity due to a lack of food. Aquarium images of not so healthy and healthier specimens, and a real good specimen... in the wild (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.) |
Bigger PIX:
The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |
 |
| Limaria fragilis Gmelin 1791, the Fragile File Shell. Indo-Pacific; Red Sea to Japan, Australia. Takes a beating if stocked with many types of fishes, crustaceans. Needs to be inserted in rock cover. Queensland, Australian photo. | 
|
| Limaria orientalis (Adams & Reeves 1850), File Shell. Uniformly Red with thicker tentacles than other Files. Found in sand or between rocks (like here). Western Pacific; New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines. N. Sulawesi image. | 
|
Pearl Oysters, Family Pteriidae: | Lopha cristagalli (Linnaeus 1758), the Cock's Comb Oyster. Indo-West Pacific; including the Red Sea. Characteristic "zig zag" shells, and less calcification than Hyotissa above. Can be kept in aquariums lacking predatory starfishes. Filter feeders that can be serviced by utilizing timers to shut off filter pumps temporarily. Attach to hard substrates. Red Sea and N. Sulawesi images. |  
|
Bigger PIX:
The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |
MD.JPG) |
| Pinctada margaritifera Linnaeus 1758, the Black-Lipped Pearl Oyster. THE pearl oyster of the South Pacific. Indo-Pacific all the way to the Eastern Pacific. To almost a foot in length. Hawai'i pic. | 
|
| Pteria aegyptica (Chemnitz 1782), Egyptian Wing-Oyster. Indo-Pacific; including Red Sea. Found attached to gorgonians (as here), stony corals, soft corals, hydrozoans. Needs strong current, moderate light and very small (less than 15 millimicron diameter) for food. To 8 cm. in length. Red Sea pic. | 
|
| Pteria brunnea (Pease 1863), the Winged Pearl Oyster. Usually found in clusters on whip corals (Cirrhipathes, Stichopathes spp.) or black coral (Antipathes spp.), with Bryozoans et al. in turn growing on their shells. Hawai'i pic. (this may be an endemic) | 
|
| Pteria colymbus, Atlantic Wing-Oyster. Tropical West Atlantic. 2-3 inches. Found attached to Gorgonians, mostly Sea Plumes. Often overgrown in turn by other organisms. Turks photo. | .JPG)
|
Bigger PIX: Pteria tortirostris, Sipidan 08
The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |
 |
Family Pinnidae: Penshells | Pinna carnea, the Amber Penshell. Found singly in mud, sand, interspersed between rocks on reefs, fore-reefs. Look like their thin shells were stuck in the sand facing up, slightly agape. Tropical west Atlantic. Bonaire pic of a view from above. | 
|
Bigger PIX:
The images in this table are
linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to
the larger size. |
|
 |
| Pedum spongyloideum (Gmelin 1791), the Iridescent Scallop. Red Sea, Indo-Pacific. Live embedded in various corals, usually Porites spp. Grow to a couple of inches across. Not boring organisms, but preclude growth where they attach. Gili, Lombok, Indo. and Red Sea pix. |  
|
| Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |
%20MD.JPG) |
Thorny Oysters, Family Spondylidae: Have sturdy, ribbed shells, sometimes with continuing projections at their openings. Attached to rocks. When open have colorful mantles and small bluish eyes. Four Hawaiian species. | Spondylus americanus Herman 1781, the Atlantic Thorny Oyster. Caribbean. To four inches across. Here off St. Lucia and the Bahamas in the Caribbean. |  
|
| Spondylus linguaefelis Sowerby 1847, Carl's Tongue Thorny Oyster. Long thin spines that reminded the namer of a "cat's tongue" in their roughness. This is a tentative ID... This animal photographed in S. Sulawesi. Range given for this species as Hawai'i and Clipperton Islands. | 
|
| Spondylus varians Sowerby 1829, the Variable Thorny Oyster. The most common bivalve in its Western Pacific range. Orange mantle, blue eyes, white spines (typically overgrown) on overall shell. This one off the Gilis, Lombok and N. Sulawesi, Indonesia. | 
|
Bigger PIX:
The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |
|
| Spondylus violacescens Lamarck 1819, the Cliff Oyster. As the common name suggests, this bivalve is found on the undersides and clefts of rocks. To four inches in diameter. Empty attached shell often with white middle, purple or orangish ring on inside perimeter. Big Island, Hawai'i pix. Here attached under rocks. | 
|
Bigger PIX: Spondylus sp. Red Sea 08
The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size. |
.JPG)
|
|
|
