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Bivalvia (/ b aɪ ˈ v æ l v i ə /) or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consisting of a hinged pair of half-shells known as valves.
Freshwater bivalves are molluscs of the order Bivalvia that inhabit freshwater ecosystems. They are one of the two main groups of freshwater molluscs , along with freshwater snails . The majority of bivalve molluscs are saltwater species that live in the marine habitats , but a number of families have evolved to live in fresh water (and in some ...
A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
Scallop (/ ˈ s k ɒ l ə p, ˈ s k æ l ə p /) [a] is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops.However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families within the superfamily Pectinoidea, which also includes the thorny oysters.
There are about 8,000 marine bivalves species (including brackish water and estuarine species), and about 1,200 freshwater species. Cephalopod include octopus , squid and cuttlefish . They are found in all oceans, and neurologically are the most advanced of the invertebrates. [ 59 ]
Ecosystem services delivered by epibenthic bivalve reefs. Reefs provide coastal protection through erosion control and shoreline stabilization, and modify the physical landscape by ecosystem engineering , thereby providing habitat for species by facilitative interactions with other habitats such as tidal flat benthic communities, seagrasses and ...
Giant clams are the largest living bivalve mollusks. Several other species of "giant clam" in the genus Tridacna are often misidentified as Tridacna gigas. These clams were known to indigenous peoples of East Asia for thousands of years and the Venetian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta documented them in a journal as early as 1521.
Unionidae burrow into the substrate, with their posterior margins exposed. They pump water through the incurrent aperture, obtaining oxygen and food. They remove phytoplankton and zooplankton, as well as suspended bacteria, fungal spores, and dissolved organic matter.