Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
More recently, the class was known as Pelecypoda, meaning "axe-foot" (based on the shape of the foot of the animal when extended). The name "bivalve" is derived from the Latin bis, meaning 'two', and valvae, meaning 'leaves of a door'. [4] ("Leaf" is an older word for the main, movable part of a door. We normally consider this the door itself.)
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 ...
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are insects in their nymph and larval stages, snails, worms, crayfish, and clams that spend at least part of their lives in water. These insects play a large role in freshwater ecosystems by recycling nutrients as well as providing food to higher trophic levels.
The impacts of reduced calcium carbonate saturation on marine calcifiers have broader ecological implications, as these organisms play vital roles in marine ecosystems. For example, coral reefs, which are built by coral polyps secreting calcium carbonate skeletons, are particularly vulnerable to changes in calcium carbonate saturation.
Bivalve molluscs are used as bioindicators to monitor the health of aquatic environments in both fresh water and the marine environments. Their population status or structure, physiology, behaviour or the level of contamination with elements or compounds can indicate the state of contamination status of the ecosystem.
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.
These clams have, like all bivalve mollusks, a shell consisting of two parts that are hinged together, which can be closed to protect the animal's soft body within. [8] Like all mollusks, the freshwater mussels have a muscular "foot", which enables the mussel to move slowly and bury itself within the bottom substrate of its freshwater habitat. [8]
Cerastoderma edule a) foot b) exhalant siphon c) branchial or inhalant siphon d) edge of mantle e) ligament f) umbones or beaks of the shell. The common cockle was one of the many invertebrate species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given its old binomial name Cardium edule. [2]