A resilifer is a part of the

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

of certain bivalve

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. It is either a recess (a pit or groove of some sort) or a process, the function of which is the attachment of an internal ligament, which holds the two valves together. An internal ligament (which requires a resilifer to function) is part of the hinge mechanism in certain taxonomic families of

bivalve shell A bivalve shell is part of the body, the exoskeleton or shell, of a bivalve mollusk. In life, the shell of this class of mollusks is composed of two hinged parts or ''valves''. Bivalves are very common in essentially all aquatic locales, includi ...

s, such as

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 ...

s and scallops. A resilifer (and its associated ligament) is the primary structure comprising the type of bivalve hinge that is known as an "isodont" hinge. Pectinidae hinge

References

Mollusc shells {{bivalve-stub