Pinnidae on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Pinnidae are a taxonomic
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of large saltwater clams sometimes known as pen shells. They are 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 (biology), class of marine and freshwater Mollusca, molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hing ...
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 est ...
s in the order Pteriida.
Shell description
The shells of bivalves in this family are fragile and have a long and triangular shape, and in life the pointed end is anchored in sediment using abyssus
A byssus () is a bundle of filaments secreted by many species of bivalve mollusc that function to attach the mollusc to a solid surface. Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells ( Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytili ...
. The shells have a thin but highly iridescent inner layer of nacre
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is ...
in the part of the shell near the umbos (the pointed end).
The family Pinnidae includes the fan shell, '' Atrina fragilis'', and '' Pinna nobilis'', the source of sea silk. Some species are also fished for their food value.
Human use
As RosewaterRosewater, Joseph. (1961). “The Family Pinnidae in the Indo-Pacific.” ''Indo-Pacific Mollusca'', vol. 1, no. 4. September 28, 1961, pp. 175-176. commented in 1961:"“The Pinnidae have considerable economic importance in many parts of the world. They produce pearls of moderate value. In the Mediterranean area, material made from the holdfast or byssus of ''Pinna nobilis'' Linné has been utilized in the manufacture of clothing for many centuries: gloves, shawls, stockings and cloaks. Apparel made from this material has an attractive golden hue and these items were greatly valued by the ancients. Today, Pinnidae are eaten in Japan, Polynesia, in several other Indo-Pacific island groups, and on the west coast of Mexico. In Polynesia, the valves of ''Atrina vexillum'' are carved to form decorative articles, and entire valves of larger specimens are sometimes used as plates.”
Genera
Genera within the family Pinnidae: * '' Atrina''Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be compose ...
, 1842
* '' Pinna'' Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologi ...
* ''Streptopinna
''Streptopinna'' is an Indo-Pacific genus of bivalve 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 ...
'' von Martens
Eduard von Martens (18 April 1831 – 14 August 1904) also known as ''Carl'' or ''Karl Eduard von Martens'', was a German zoologist.
Born in Stuttgart in 1831, von Martens attended university in Tübingen, where he graduated in 1855. He then move ...
, 1850
References
Further reading
* * Turner, Ruth D. and Rosewater, Joseph 1958. "The Family Pinnidae in the Western Atlantic" ''Johnsonia'', Vol. 3 No. 38, June 28, 1958, pp. 285–326. * R. Tucker Abbott & S. Peter Dance, 1982, “Compendium of seashells: a color guide to more than 4,200 of the world’s marine shells”, E.P. Dutton Inc., New York. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1519159 Bivalve families