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.
The zebra mussel is a small freshwater mussel. The species was originally native to the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in many countries worldwide. Since the 1980s, the species has invaded the Great Lakes, Hudson River, and Lake Travis.
A veliger is the planktonic larva of many kinds of sea snails and freshwater snails, as well as most bivalve molluscs (clams) and tusk shells.
The quagga mussel is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae. It has an average lifespan of 3 to 5 years.
Dreissena is a genus of small freshwater mussels in the family Dreissenidae. The exact taxonomy of the species within the genus Dreissena is, however, uncertain.
The Dreissenidae are a family of small freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs. They attach themselves to stones or to any other hard surface using a byssus. The shells of these bivalves are shaped somewhat like those of true mussels, and they also attach themselves to a hard substrate using a byssus, however this group is not at all closely related to true mussels, being more closely related to the venus clams (Veneridae).
The Unionidae are a family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or simply as unionids.
Mytilidae are a family of small to large marine and brackish-water bivalve molluscs in the order Mytilida. One of the genera, Limnoperna, even inhabits freshwater environments. The order has only this one family which contains some 52 genera.
Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves which live in freshwater, as opposed to saltwater, the main habitat type for bivalves.
Perna viridis, known as the Asian green mussel, is an economically important mussel, a bivalve belonging to the family Mytilidae. It is harvested for food but is also known to harbor toxins and cause damage to submerged structures such as drainage pipes. It is native in the Asia-Pacific region but has been introduced in the Caribbean, and in the waters around Japan, North America, and South America.
Perna perna, the brown mussel, is an economically important mussel, a bivalve mollusc belonging to the family Mytilidae. It is harvested as a food source but is also known to harbor toxins and cause damage to marine structures. It is native to the waters of Africa, Europe, and South America and was introduced in the waters of North America.
Mytilopsis leucophaeata is a species of small bivalve mollusc in the false mussel family, Dreissenidae. It is commonly known as Conrad's false mussel or the dark false mussel.
Geukensia demissa is a species of mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels. This species is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. The common names for this species include ribbed mussel, Atlantic ribbed marsh mussel and ribbed horsemussel. However, the common name ribbed mussel is also used for the Southern Hemisphere mussel Aulacomya atra. The appearance of the shell is grooved and oval in shape. The interior of this mussel is tinted purple
Limnoperna fortunei, the golden mussel, is a medium-sized freshwater bivalve mollusc of the family Mytilidae. The native range of the species is China, but it has accidentally been introduced to South America and several Asian countries where it has become an invasive species. It is considered to be an ecosystem engineer because it alters the nature of the water and the bottom habitats of lakes and rivers and modifies the associated invertebrate communities. It also has strong effects on the properties of the water column, modifying nutrient proportions and concentrations, increasing water transparency, decreasing phytoplankton and zooplankton densities, on which it feeds, and enhancing the growth of aquatic macrophytes. Because mussels attach to hard substrata, including the components of industrial, water-treatment and power plants, they have become a major biofouling problem in the areas invaded.
In May 2010, a new taxonomy of the Bivalvia was published in the journal Malacologia. The 2010 taxonomy is known as the Taxonomy of the Bivalvia . The 2010 taxonomy was published as Nomenclator of Bivalve Families with a Classification of Bivalve Families. This was a revised system for classifying bivalve mollusks such as clams, oysters, scallops, mussels and so on. In compiling this new taxonomy, the authors used a variety of phylogenetic information including molecular analysis, anatomical analysis, shell morphology and shell microstructure, as well as bio-geographic, paleobiogeographical and stratigraphic information.
Mytella charruana is a bivalve, commonly known as the charru mussel. This species was discovered in Central and South America and by Alcide d'Orbigny, A French naturalist in 1842. They are less than an inch long (2.5 cm), and range from brown to black in color.
Nucinellidae is a family of bivalves, in the order Solemyida. Its species are small and principally reside in deep-water environments. The species' average length is less than 5 millimetres (0.20 in), the largest species being Nucinella boucheti at a length of 25 millimetres (0.98 in). The family's characteristic features include large gills and reduced palps and their appendages; oval shells with few hinge teeth; they possess a single adductor muscle and one divided foot exhibiting papillae. The family contains two known genera: Huxleyia and Nucinella. Speaking of Nucinella, the genus' ligament system is of the simple arched type, lacking nymphae. Regarding the former, the system is "submerged" beneath its dorsal margin.
Mytilaster minimus, the dwarf mussel or variable mussel, is a species of mussel from sea and brackish waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Indosphenia kayalum is a small bivalve species inhabiting fragmented brackish-water habitats around Kochi backwater, Kerala. The specific name kayalum is derived from kayal, the Malayalam name for these backwaters. This species was described in 2018 from the Ezhupunna region of Cochin Backwater, Vembanad Lake along with other myid clam Mytilopsis and brackish water gastropod Nassodonta insignis. This is the fifth species described in the genus Indosphenia. The other species recognized under this genus are Indosphenia cochinensis, Indosphenia abbreviata, Indosphenia abbreviata chilkaensis and Indosphenia sowerbyi.
Mytilopsis africana is a species of bivalve mollusc in the false mussel family, Dreissenidae. It is widespread along the brackish water environments of coastal West and Central Africa. It may represent a lineage of Mytilopsis sallei, a Caribbean species, that invaded the western coast of Africa during the period of slave trade.
