Glycymerididae, often misspelled as Glycymeridae,

common names In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...

dog cockles or bittersweets, is a worldwide

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 ...

of salt water clams,

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 ...

mollusk 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 e ...

s in the order

Arcida The Arcida is an extant order of bivalve molluscs. This order dates back to the lower Ordovician period. They are distinguished from related groups, such as the mussels, by having a straight hinge to the shells, and the adductor muscles being ...

. They are related to the

ark clam Ark clam is the common name for a family of small to large-sized saltwater clams or marine bivalve molluscs in the family Arcidae. Ark clams vary both in shape and size. They number about 200 species worldwide. The shells of ark clams are of ...

s. This family contains 45 extant species in four genera.

Description

In this family the shell is generally round in outline and is slightly longer than it is wide. The external ligament lacks transverse

striation Striations means a series of ridges, furrows or linear marks, and is used in several ways: * Glacial striation * Striation (fatigue), in material * Striation (geology), a ''striation'' as a result of a geological fault * Striation Valley, in Ant ...

s. The shell in some genera is smooth and in others it is ribbed.

History of the name

Authority of Glycymerididae has been incorrectly attributed to Newton (1916 or 1922) by a great number of authors. While Newton was the first to publish this name, Dall (1908) had previously established the subfamily Glycymerinae , which gives him priority for the family name under Article 36 of ICZN. The name comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word ''glykymaris'' (perhaps from ''glykýs'' "sweet" and ''méros'' "part"), a word which is only recorded once in Greek literature. The family name was changed to the current name in 1957, following the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

rules of naming. This change remains somewhat controversial, however the present name has become more widely used since 1969.Shell morphology, shell texture and species discrimination of Caribbean Tucetona (bivalvia, glycymeridae) , Journal of Paleontology , Find Articles at BNET.com
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Genera and species

Genera and species in the family Glycymerididae include: * '' Axinactis'' Mörch, 1861 ** '' Axinactis delessertii'' ( Reeve, 1843) ** '' Axinactis inaequalis'' ( G. B. Sowerby I, 1833) * ''

Glycymeris ''Glycymeris'', common name the bittersweet clams, is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Glycymerididae.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Glycymeris da Costa, 1778. Accessed through: World Register of Ma ...

da Costa Costa (, , , , ), sometimes Costas, da Costa, Da Costa, or Dalla Costa, is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. The surname spread throughout the world through colonization. It is also a surname chosen by Jews and other religious groups due ...

, 1778 * '' Mexalanea'' ** '' Melaxinaea vitrea'' * ''

Tucetona ''Tucetona'' is a genus of saltwater clams, marine (ocean), marine bivalve molluscs in the family (biology), family Glycymerididae, the bittersweet clams. Unlike other genera in the family, ''Tucetona'' species have a ribbed shell. Species Speci ...

'' Iredale, 1931

References

Taxa named by William Healey Dall Bivalve families {{bivalve-stub