Kuphus | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Bivalvia |
Subclass: | Heterodonta |
Order: | Myida |
Superfamily: | Pholadoidea |
Family: | Teredinidae |
Genus: | Kuphus Guettard, 1770 [1] |
Species | |
Kuphus is a genus of shipworms, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae. While there are four extinct species in the genus, [2] the only extant species is Kuphus polythalamius (also incorrectly spelled as Kuphus polythalamia). [3] [4] It is the longest bivalve mollusc in the world, where the only known permanent natural habitat is Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat in the Philippines. [5]
Members of this genus secrete calcareous tubes. Based only on the calcareous tube, this species was originally thought by Linnaeus to be a tube worm, so he placed it in the genus Serpula . Despite the fact that Kuphus polythalamius is now known to be a mollusc, its common name is the giant tube worm. [6] Since 1981 however, the name "giant tube worm" has also been applied to the hydrothermal vent species Riftia pachyptila , which is indeed a worm, an annelid.
The sole living species is:
Extinct species are:
Large, tusk-shaped, calcareous tubes were occasionally washed up on beaches. There was disagreement among zoologists in the 18th century as to whether the creature which made one of these was a polychaete tube-worm or came from a mollusc. Linnaeus described the species in 1758. He considered that it was a serpulid worm and named it Serpula arenaria, a name which in 1767 he changed to Serpula polythalamia. There was some confusion as to precisely which taxon he was describing, but S. polythalamius became the type species of the genus Serpula , a genus of polychaete worms. In 1770, Guettard introduced the name Kuphus for the genus, realising that the animal was not a worm but a mollusc. This meant that, according to the ICZN rules, the specific name became Kuphus polythalamius (Linnaeus, 1758). [7]
Fossils of Kuphus polythalamius have been found dating back to the Oligocene. They came from rocks in various tropical and sub-tropical areas including Indonesia, Pakistan, Jamaica, Grenada, South Africa and Somalia. [8]
Fossils of the extinct species, Kuphus melitensis , are found in Late Oligocene-aged coralline limestone of Malta. [2]
Fossils of the extinct species, Kuphus incrassatus , have been found in rocks in Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Florida and Mississippi. [9] Another species is Kuphus arenarius that have been recorded in Oligocene to Miocene-aged limestone layers of Asmari Formation in Iran. They are common in sedimentary Tertiary rocks in the Caribbean region. They date back to the Oligocene and Miocene and have been used for absolute dating of the rocks, using the relative proportions of two strontium isotopes in the fossils. [10]
Fossils of the extinct species, Kuphus fistula , dating from the Miocene and Pliocene, have been found in various locations in Virginia in the United States. [11]
Fossils found near Warsaw by paleontologist, Friedrich von Huene in 1941 were misidentified as being the teeth and parts of the jaw of a new species of dinosaur, which he named Succinodon putzeri . It was later determined that these were in fact the fossil remains of a marine boring bivalve, a previously undescribed species of Kuphus. [12]
Today, Kuphus polythalamius is found in the western Pacific Ocean, the western and eastern Indian Ocean and the Indo-Malaysian area. [13] The range includes the Philippines, Indonesia and Mozambique. [14] However, the only thoroughly studied natural habitat of the species is in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat in the Philippines. [15]
The shipworms are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae: a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into wood that is immersed in sea water, including such structures as wooden piers, docks and ships; they drill passages by means of a pair of very small shells borne at one end, with which they rasp their way through. Sometimes called "termites of the sea", they also are known as "Teredo worms" or simply Teredo, from the Greek τερηδώνteredōn, via Latin. Eventually biologists adopted the common name Teredo as the name for the best-known genus.
Ensis is a genus of medium-sized edible saltwater clams, littoral bivalve molluscs in the family Pharidae. Ensis, or razor clams, are known in much of Scotland as spoots, for the spouts of water they eject while burrowing into the sand, when visible at low tide. This term may also colloquially include members of the genus Solen. Ensis magnus are known as bendies due to their slightly curved shell.
Teredo navalis, commonly called the naval shipworm or turu, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Teredinidae. This species is the type species of the genus Teredo. Like other species in this family, this bivalve is called a shipworm, because it resembles a worm in general appearance, while at the anterior end it has a small shell with two valves which is adept at boring through wood.
Mercenaria is a genus of edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
Venus is a genus of small to large saltwater clams in the family Veneridae, which is sometimes known as the Venus clams and their relatives. These are marine bivalve molluscs.
Spirorbis is a genus of very small polychaete worms, usually with a white coiled shell. Members of the genus live in the lower littoral and sublittoral zones of rocky shores. Spirorbis worms usually live attached to seaweeds, but some species live directly on rocks, shells or other hard substrates. Spirorbis was once thought to have a fossil record extending back into the Early Paleozoic, but now all pre-Cretaceous spirorbins are known to be microconchids. The earliest members of genus appeared in the Miocene, but Oligocene finds may also be possible. The genus contains the following species:
Pinna is a genus of bivalve molluscs belonging to the family Pinnidae. The type species of the genus is Pinna rudis.
Serpula vermicularis, known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is the type species of the genus Serpula and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.
Glossus is a genus of mostly extinct marine bivalve molluscs in the family Glossidae. Only the oxheart clam, G. humanus, is still extant, living in flat, muddy regions deep off the North Atlantic coastline of Europe.
Teredo is a genus of highly modified saltwater clams which bore in wood and live within the tunnels they create. They are commonly known as "shipworms," and are marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Teredinidae. The type species is Teredo navalis.
Acanthocardia is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae. Like most other bivalves, these mollusks are suspension feeders. This genus is present from the Upper Oligocene to the Recent.
Glycymeris, common name the bittersweet clams, is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Glycymerididae.
Acanthocardia tuberculata, the rough cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, a cockle, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae. The genus Acanthocardia is present from the Upper Oligocene to the Recent.
Lunulicardia is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae, the cockles. Fossils species in this genus are present in the Pliocene deposits of Indonesia and the Miocene deposits of Russia.
Pterorigonia is an extinct genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Megatrigoniidae. This genus is known in the fossil record from the Jurassic period Tithonian age to the Cretaceous period Maastrichtian age. Species in this genus were facultatively mobile infaunal suspension feeders. The type species of the genus is Pterotrigonia cristata.
Diceras is an extinct genus of fossil saltwater clams, marine heterodont bivalve molluscs. These bivalves were stationary epifaunal suspension feeders.
Circomphalus is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Callista is a genus of saltwater clams, marine, bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Kuphus polythalamius is a species of shipworm, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Teredinidae.