''Lopha'' is a genus of
marine bivalve molluscs in the family
Ostreidae
The Ostreidae, the true oysters, include most species of molluscs commonly consumed as oysters. Pearl oysters are not true oysters, and belong to the order Pteriida.
Like scallops, true oysters have a central adductor muscle, which means the ...
.
The genus ''Lopha'' is present from the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
period in the Lower
Norian age (216.5 ± 2.0 – 203.6 ± 1.5 Mya) to the recent age.
Description
''Lopha'' species have thick, strongly ribbed shells with unequal valves. The margins of the valves have a characteristic zig-zag pattern. The lower valve shows finger-like outgrowths, by which the molluscs adhere to the substrate. These molluscs are stationary, epifaunal, suspension feeders, as they feed by filtering sea water to extract the nutrients.
Species
* ''
Lopha affinis''
Sowerby, 1871
* ''
Lopha capsa''
Fischer von Waldheim, 1808
* ''
Lopha chemnitzii''
Hanley, 1846
* ''
Lopha cristagalli''
C. Linnaeus, 1758
* ''
Lopha frons''
C. Linnaeus, 1758
* ''
Lopha imbricata''
J. B. Lamarck, 1819
* ''
Lopha rosacea''
G. P. Deshayes, 1836
Fossil species
*''
Lopha gregarea'',
Oxfordian (stage) (160 mya)
*''
Lopha marshii'' (Sowerby, 1914),
Bajocian
In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 170.3 Ma to around 168.3 Ma (million years ago). The Bajocian Age succeeds the Aalenian Age and precedes the Bathonian Age.
Stra ...
(170 mya)
Gallery
File:Lopha cristagalli.jpg, ''Lopha cristagalli''
File:Lopha colubrina.JPG, ''Lopha colubrina'' in Naturalis, Leiden
References
BiolibWoRMSPaleobiology Database
*Sepkoski, Jac
Sepkoski's Online Genus Database
Ostreidae
Bivalve genera
Extant Triassic first appearances
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