Plicatulidae

Plicatulidae
Members of the species Plicatula gibbosa, including both modern (right) and fossil (left) specimens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Pectinida
Superfamily:	Plicatuloidea
Family:	Plicatulidae Watson, 1930
Genera
See text

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

Synonyms

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

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

• "Plicatulostrea a new genus of Plicatulidae" (PDF).