Pulvinitidae is a
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 saltwater 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 ...
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 order
Pteriida
The Pteriida are an order of large and medium-sized marine bivalve mollusks. It includes five families, among them the Pteriidae (pearl oysters and winged oysters).
2010 taxonomy
In 2010, a new proposed classification system for the Bivalvia ...
. These bivalves are related to the
scallop
Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...
s and
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
s. Originally believed to be extinct and known only from fossil records, non-fossil shells of members of this family were first discovered in 1913 by the Australian research vessel off the coast of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. Sixty years later, live specimens were finally discovered on the wing of a wrecked airplane at a depth of over 400 meters.
Genera and species
Genera and species within the family Pulvinitidae include:
* ''
Pulvinites''
de France 1824
** ''
Pulvinites adansoni''
de France 1824
** ''
Pulvinites antarctica''
** ''
Pulvinites argenteus''
** ''
Pulvinites dysporista''
** ''
Pulvinites exempla''
** ''
Pulvinites lawrencei''
** ''
Pulvinites liasicus''
References
*
Bivalve families
Monogeneric mollusc families
{{Bivalve-stub