| Spondylus varius | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A live individual of Spondylus varius, in situ off Mayotte | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Pectinida |
| Family: | Spondylidae |
| Genus: | Spondylus |
| Species: | S. varius |
| Binomial name | |
| Spondylus varius G.B. Sowerby I, 1827 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Spondylus varius, is a species of large marine bivalve mollusc in the family Spondylidae, the spiny oysters.
Spondylus varius is the largest of the spiny oysters, reaching a maximum size of about 20 cm. Aside from the size, the shell is easily recognisable because its adult part is white, but a colourful (usually crimson, but it can be yellow) prodissoconch is clearly visible at the apical end.
It lives at a depths of 30 m, and like most bivalves, is a filter-feeder, using plankton as a food source.
This species can be found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and off Australia, China, the Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan.
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 all oysters are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.
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.
Spondylus is a genus of bivalve molluscs, the only genus in the family Spondylidae. They are known in English as spiny oysters.
The Chimú culture was centered on Chimor with the capital city of Chan Chan, a large adobe city in the Moche Valley of present-day Trujillo, Peru. The culture arose about 900 AD, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fifty years before the arrival of the Spanish in the region. Chimor was the largest kingdom in the Late Intermediate Period, encompassing 1,000 kilometres of coastline.
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, including saltwater, brackish water, and freshwater. The shells of bivalves commonly wash up on beaches and along the edges of lakes, rivers, and streams. Bivalves by definition possess two shells or valves, a "right valve" and a "left valve", that are joined by a ligament. The two valves usually articulate with one another using structures known as "teeth" which are situated along the hinge line. In many bivalve shells, the two valves are symmetrical along the hinge line—when truly symmetrical, such an animal is said to be equivalved; if the valves vary from each other in size or shape, inequivalved. If symmetrical front-to-back, the valves are said to be equilateral, and are otherwise considered inequilateral.
Ostrea lurida, common name the Olympia oyster, after Olympia, Washington in the Puget Sound area, is a species of edible oyster, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Ostreidae. This species occurs on the northern Pacific coast of North America. Over the years the role of this edible species of oyster has been partly displaced by the cultivation of non-native edible oyster species.
Pinctada maxima is a species of pearl oyster, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. There are two different color varieties: the Silver-lipped oyster and the Gold-lipped oyster. These bivalves are the largest pearl oysters in the world. They have a very strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as "mother of pearl" and are important to the cultured pearl industry as they are cultivated to produce South Sea pearls.
The Pectinoidea are a superfamily of marine bivalve molluscs, including the scallops and spiny oysters.
Isognomon alatus, the flat tree oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Isognomonidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from southern Florida to Brazil and Bermuda.
Isognomon radiatus, the radial purse oyster or Lister's tree oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pteriidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from southern Florida to Brazil and Bermuda.
Spondylus americanus, the Atlantic thorny oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from North Carolina to Brazil.
Arcinella arcinella, or the Caribbean spiny jewel box clam, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Chamidae.
Pectinida is a taxonomic order of large and medium-sized saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs, commonly known as scallops and their allies. It is believed that they began evolutionarily in the late Middle Ordovician epoch; many species, of course, are still extant.
Spondylus gaederopus is a species of marine bivalve mollusc, a thorny oyster in the family Spondylidae. This species is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.
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.
Tikod amo is the Kamayo language name for an edible oyster species, a species of marine bivalve mollusk that is found in the coastal waters of Lianga Bay in Barobo Surigao del Sur in the Philippines. The scientific identity of this species is not yet known, but it appears to be in the genus Spondylus, the thorny oysters. "Tikod amo" is a name in the local dialect, derived from its external appearance, which supposedly resembles the ‘ankle of an ape’.
Heniochus varius, the horned bannerfish or humphead bannerfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae, native from the central Indo-Pacific area.
Spondylus ostreoides is a species of spiny oyster. It was only found once, off Raoul Island in the South Pacific Ocean.
Spondylus regius, the regal thorny oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Spondylidae. It can be found in the Western Pacific, and can grow 131 mm in length.
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