Mytiloidea

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Mytiloidea
Miesmuscheln Mytilus 1.jpg
Two shells of Mytilus edulis washed up on a beach
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Mytilida
Superfamily:Mytiloidea
Rafinesque, 1815

Mytiloidea are a superfamily of small to large saltwater mussels, marine bivalve molluscs in the order Mytilida.

Family is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy; it is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as being the "walnut family".

Mussel Common name for members of several families of bivalve molluscs

Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.

In biological classification, the order is

  1. a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family. An immediately higher rank, superorder, may be added directly above order, while suborder would be a lower rank.
  2. a taxonomic unit, a taxon, in that rank. In that case the plural is orders.

Mytiloidea contains two families, Mysideiellidae, which is known only from fossils and Mytilidae, which has living representatives. [1]

Mytilidae family of molluscs

Mytilidae are a family of small to large saltwater mussels, marine bivalve molluscs in the order Mytilida. One of the genera, Limnoperna, inhabits brackish or freshwater environments. The order has only this one family which contains some 52 genera.

Related Research Articles

Bivalvia class of molluscs

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. Bivalves as a group have no head and they lack some usual molluscan organs like the radula and the odontophore. They include the clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families that live in saltwater, as well as a number of families that live in freshwater. The majority are filter feeders. The gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing. Most bivalves bury themselves in sediment where they are relatively safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. Some bivalves, such as the scallops and file shells, can swim. The shipworms bore into wood, clay, or stone and live inside these substances.

Ostreida order of molluscs

The order Ostreida includes the true oysters. One superfamily and two families are recognised within it. The two families are Ostreidae, the true oysters, and Gryphaeidae, the foam oysters.

Arcida order of molluscs

The Arcida is an extant order of bivalve molluscs. This order dates back to the lower Ordovician period. They are distinguished from related groups, such as the mussels, by having a straight hinge to the shells, and the adductor muscles being of equal size. The duplivincular ligament, taxodont dentition, and a shell microstructure consisting of the outer crossed lamellar and inner complex crossed lamellar layers are defining characters of this order.

Pterioida order of molluscs

The Pterioida are an order of large and medium-sized marine bivalve mollusks. It includes five families, among them the Pteriidae.

Pteriomorphia subclass of molluscs

The Pteriomorphia comprise a subclass of saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks. It contains several major orders, including the Arcoida, Ostreoida, Pectinoida, Limoida, Mytiloida, and Pterioida. It also contains some extinct and probably basal families, such as the Evyanidae, Colpomyidae, Bakevelliidae, Cassianellidae, and Lithiotidae.

Palaeoheterodonta subclass of molluscs

Palaeoheterodonta is a subclass of bivalve molluscs. It contains the extant orders Unionida and Trigoniida. They are distinguished by having the two halves of the shell be of equal size and shape, but by having the hinge teeth be in a single row, rather than separated into two groups, as they are in the clams and cockles.

Heterodonta subclass of molluscs

Heterodonta is a taxonomic subclass of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. This subclass includes the edible clams, the cockles and the Venus clams.

Unionida order of molluscs

Unionida is a monophyletic order of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs. The order includes most of the larger freshwater mussels, including the freshwater pearl mussels. The most common families are the Unionidae and the Margaritiferidae. All have in common a larval stage that is temporarily parasitic on fish, nacreous shells, high in organic matter, that may crack upon drying out, and siphons too short to permit the animal to live deeply buried in sediment.

Anomalodesmata is an order of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. This grouping was formerly recognised as a taxonomic subclass. It is called a superorder in the current World Register of Marine Species, despite having no orders, to parallel it with sister taxon Imparidentia, which does have orders.

Hiatellidae family of molluscs

Hiatellidae is a taxonomic family of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. This family is placed in the order Adapedonta.

Mollusca Large phylum of invertebrate animals

Mollusca is the second largest phylum of invertebrate animals. The members are known as molluscs or mollusks. Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000 additional species.

Pectinoidea superfamily of molluscs

The Pectinoidea are a superfamily of marine bivalve molluscs, including the scallops and spiny oysters.

Protobranchia subclass of molluscs

Protobranchia is a subclass of bivalve molluscs. It contains the extant orders Nuculanida, Nuculida, and Solemyida.

Pectinoida is a taxonomic suborder of large and medium-sized saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks, commonly known as scallops and their allies. It is believed that they began evolutionarily in the late Middle Ordovician era; many species, of course, are still extant.

Ligament (bivalve)

A hinge ligament is a crucial part of the anatomical structure of a bivalve shell, i.e. the shell of a bivalve mollusk. The shell of a bivalve has two valves and these are joined together by the ligament at the dorsal edge of the shell. The ligament is made of a strong, flexible and elastic, fibrous, proteinaceous material which is usually pale brown, dark brown or black in color.

Adductor muscles (bivalve)

The adductor muscles are the main muscular system in bivalve mollusks, i.e. in clams, scallops, mussels, oysters, etc. In many parts of the world, when people eat scallops, the adductor muscles are the only part of the soft parts of the animal which are eaten. Adductor muscles leave noticeable scars or marks on the interior of the shell's valves. Those marks are often used by scientists who are in the process of identifying empty shells to determine their correct taxonomic placement.

Lucinida is a taxonomic order of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs.

Cyrenidae family of molluscs

Cyrenidae is a family of clams in the order Venerida.

<i>Septifer bilocularis</i> Species of mollusc

Septifer bilocularis is a marine bivalve species in the family Mytilidae, the mussels.

References

  1. Bieler, R., Carter, J.G. & Coan, E.V. (2010) Classification of Bivalve families. Pp. 113-133, in: Bouchet, P. & Rocroi, J.P. (2010), Nomenclator of Bivalve Families. Malacologia 52(2): 1-184