Ark clam

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Ark clam
Shell specimens of Anadara antiquata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Arcida
Superfamily: Arcoidea
Family: Arcidae
Lamarck, 1809
Genera

See text

Ark clam is the

molluscs in the family
Arcidae. Ark clams vary both in shape and size. They number about 200 species worldwide.

The shells of ark clams are often white or cream, but in some species, the shell is striped with, tinted with, or completely colored, a rich brown. In life the shell of most species has a top shell layer that is thick brown periostracum affixed to the harder calcareous part of the shell. In some species such as Barbatia, this outer horny covering is tufted at the end of the shell into something that resembles a beard, hence the name Barbatia or bearded one.

geologic timescale, approx. 5.3-2.5 million years BP

The group is known as "ark shells" because species such as

Noah's ark
is thought to have been.

All ark shells have a long straight hinge line with a single row of numerous small and unspecialized "teeth". This is known as a "taxodont dentition" and represents an ancient ancestor. This kind of hinge line is also found in the bivalve families Glycymerididae, Nuculidae and Nuculanidae.

The thick outer skin or periostracum of an ark clam can act as camouflage, such that the shells can sometimes look like stones when lying on the bottom.

Large ark clams, such as Arca zebra, are commonly used as bait, as well as food, throughout the Caribbean.

Some ark clams species, such as the

Anadara granosa, a.k.a. Tegillarca granosa) are raised in aquaculture, e.g. in the estuaries of China's Fujian coast.[1]

shell mound sites.[2]

Genera

Boiled ark clams served in Tanjong Pagar, Singapore
Numerous valves of arcids, genus Senilia, washed up on the beach in Senegal

Genera within the family Arcidae include:

References

  1. ^ Ruǎn Jīnshān; Li Xiùzhū; Lín Kèbīng; Luō Dōnglián; Zhōu Chén; Cài Qīnghǎi (阮金山;李秀珠;林克冰;罗冬莲;周宸;蔡清海), 安海湾南岸滩涂养殖贝类死亡原因调查分析 Archived 2020-07-17 at the Wayback Machine (Analysis of the causes of death of farmed shellfish on the mudflats in the southern part of Anhai Bay), 《福建水产》 (Fujian Aquaculture), 2005-04
  2. OCLC 850906221.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Arcidae.
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