''Dinocardium'' is a genus of large saltwater clams or cockles,

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cardiidae A cockle is an edible marine bivalve mollusc. Although many small edible bivalves are loosely called cockles, true cockles are species in the family Cardiidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Cardiidae Lamarck, 1809. Accessed through: W ...

, the cockles. There is only one species in the genus, ''Dinocardium robustum'', or the Atlantic giant cockle.

Description

''Dinocardium robustum'' has a shell that reaches a length of 100–125 mm. This large and sturdy shell is obliquely ovate, with crenulate margins and about 32-36 rounded radial ribs present on both the inside and the outside. The valves are symmetrical with one another (equivalve). The basic color of the surface usually is creamy white, mottled with reddish-brown markings, while the interior is pinkish. This cockle burrows into the substrate by means of its strong foot, and like most bivalves feeds by filtering the water for plankton.

File:Dinocardium robustum 01.jpg, ''Dinocardium robustum''
Right valve File:Dinocardium robustum 02.jpg, ''Dinocardium robustum''
Left valve

File:Dinocardium robustum 03.jpg, ''Dinocardium robustum vanhyningi''
Right valve File:Dinocardium robustum 04.jpg, ''Dinocardium robustum vanhyningi''
Left valve

Distribution

This species can be found along the western Atlantic coast of North America, in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

References

Biolib

WoRMS

External links

* Cardiidae Bivalve genera Monotypic mollusc genera {{bivalve-stub