Order

Carditida

  Class

Bivalvia

  No. of Genera in Ref.

  No. of Species in Ref.

  Environment

Fresh : No | Brackish : No | Marine : Yes

  Aquarium

  First Fossil Record

     

  Remark

Shell equivalve, often stout and inflated, trigonal ovate trapezoidal in outline, inequilateral. Umbones generally anterior, prosogyrate, and prominent. Lunule short and deep. Exterior mostly with strong radial ribs. Ligament external, attached behind umbones on well-marked nymphs. Hinge plate strong, usually with 2 cardinal teeth, unequal and often with fine transverse striations; lateral teeth frequently more or less reduced to absent. Two adductor muscle scars slightly inequal. Pallial line without a sinus. Internal margins crenulate. Outer colour often with bright and variegated patterns. Gills of eulamellibranchiate type, with smooth branchial sheets. Foot keeled, often byssiferous (at least in the young stages). Suspension-feeding animals, often attached to substrate by their byssus and common in shallow waters. Sexes separate. Eggs generally brooded between inner and outer demibranch of the gills. Carditidae are collected for subsistence in the area, and sometimes marketed locally. Their shells, when colourful, are used in local shellcraft industries to make decorative items (Ref. 348).

  Etymology

  Division

  Reproductive guild

  Typical activity level

  Main Ref.

  Coordinator