''Malleus'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of hammer oysters (
marine bivalve
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
s) in the family
Malleidae
Malleidae, or hammer oysters, is a family of saltwater clams. They are related to the pearl oysters, in the order PteriidaGofas, S. (2011). Malleidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p= ...
. This genus includes 27 known species.
Characteristic of this genus is the unusual "hammer-shaped" outline of the valves. The shells are nearly
equivalved, but the hinge line is extremely long and is at nearly a right angle to the rest of the valves, which grow ventrally. The viscera of the organism are arranged in an oval-shaped patch near the
umbones of the valves.
Species
* ''
Malleus albus''
Lamarck, 1819
* ''
Malleus anatinus''
(Gmelin, 1791)
* ''
Malleus candeanus''
(d'Orbigny, 1853)
* ''
Malleus daemoniacus''
Reeve, 1858
* ''
Malleus legumen''
Reeve, 1858
* ''
Malleus malleus''
(Linnaeus, 1758)
* ''
Malleus meridianus''
Cotton, 1930
* ''
Malleus regula''
(Forsskål in Niebuhr, 1775)
Gallery
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.318529 1 - Malleus malleus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Malleidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, '' Malleus malleus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.318526 2 - Malleus malleus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Malleidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, '' Malleus malleus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.318521 - Malleus malleus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Malleidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, '' Malleus malleus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.318540 1 - Malleus malleus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Malleidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, '' Malleus malleus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
References
Malleidae
Bivalve genera
Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
{{bivalve-stub