Plicatulidae

The Plicatulidae are a family of saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks, known commonly as kitten's paws or kittenpaws. These bivalves are related to oysters and scallops. The family has a single living genus, Plicatula, with a second, Harpax known from fossils.

Description

Plicatulidae are small, with weakly shells which are irregularly oval or even almost triangular. Typically, they attach themselves to a hard surface by the right valve. The ligament is internal and triangular.

Life cycle

Plicatulidae members start off in the larval stage.

Genera and species

All taxa marked † are extinct.

• Harpax <small>Parkinson, 1811</small>
• Plicatula <small>Lamarck, 1801</small>
• † Pseudoplacunopsis <small>Bittner, 1895</small>
• Plicastulostrea onca: synonym of Plicatula australis <small>Lamarck, 1819</small> (type by original designation); a species from Thailand

• Plicatulostrea <small>Simone & Amaral, 2008</small>: synonym of Plicatula <small>Lamarck, 1801</small>
• Spiniplicata [sic]: synonym of Spiniplicatula Habe, 1977: synonym of Plicatula <small>Lamarck, 1801</small> (misspelling)
• Spiniplicatula <small>Habe, 1977</small>: synonym of Plicatula <small>Lamarck, 1801</small>

References

• Vaught, K.C.; Tucker Abbott, R.; Boss, K.J. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca. American Malacologists: Melbourne. ISBN 0-915826-22-4. XII, 195 pp
• 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
• Coan, E. V.; Valentich-Scott, P. (2012). Bivalve seashells of tropical West America. Marine bivalve mollusks from Baja California to northern Peru. 2 vols, 1258 pp.

External links