Linnaeus, 1758

Laterally flattened molluscs with a shell made of two hinged valves that are connected dorsally by elastic ligaments and shell teeth; the shells are closed by internal adductor muscles.
Larval development involves a trochophore larva, followed by a veliger — the uniquely molluscan larva. The bivalve veliger larva may possess a foot and shell; the most characteristic part of the veliger is the swimming and feeding organ, called the velum, consisting of two large ciliated lobes developed from the prototroch. Some bivalves have long-lived planktotrophic veligers, whereas others have short-lived lecithotrophic veligers. Just before settlement, the veliger transforms into a still pelagic juvenile that morphologically resembles the adult.
The key recognises veligers and juveniles of bivalves, but they are not keyed out to species. See Rees, 1950 and Rees, 1951 for illustrations of juveniles of some North Sea bivalve species.

[Brusca and Brusca, 1990]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia

Scientific synonyms and common names

Lamellibranchia | De Blainville, 1824
Pelecypoda | Goldfuss, 1820

Brusca, R.C. and G.J. Brusca, 1990. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, U.S.A. 922 pp.

Rees, C.B., 1950. The identification and classification of lamellibranch larvae. Hull Bulletins of marine Ecology, 3(19): 73-104.

Rees, C.B., 1951. First report on the distribution of lamellibranch larvae in the North Sea. Hull Bulletins of Marine Ecology, 3: 105-134.

Thorson, G., 1946. Reproduction and larval development of Danish marine bottom invertebrates, with special reference to the planktonic larvae in the Sound (Øresund). (With a section on lammelibranch larvae by C. Barker Jørgensen). Meddelelser fra Kommisionen for Danmaks Fiskeri- og Havundersøgelser. Serie: Plankton, Bd. 4(1): 1-523 (with 199 figures). Reitzels Forlag, København.

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