Carditamera Affinis
''Carditamera affinis'' is a species of marine bivalve mollusc. It was first described to science by George Brettingham Sowerby I in 1833. No English common name has been recorded for this species. The first appearance of this animal in the fossil record is 5.333 million years ago. Description The shell is roughly trapezoidal with 15 raised ribs. In some individuals, small spines or scales are found on the posterior ends (furthest from the hinge) of the larger ribs. The shell is colored in brown shades both on its exterior and interior. Shells have been recorded between 50.7mm and 101.2mm (2 to 4 inches) long. Distribution ''Carditamera affinis'' is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from California to Peru. It is also found in the Gulf of California and was one of the specimens collected there by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts, as recounted in ''The Log From The Sea Of Cortez''. In 2012 a very similar looking species, ''Carditamera bajaensis'', was split from ''C. a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can reproduction, produce Fertility, fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology (biology), morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a binomial nomenclature, two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specifi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''biota''. Zoologists and paleontologists use ''fauna'' to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the " Sonoran Desert fauna" or the " Burgess Shale fauna". Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. The study of animals of a particular region is called faunistics. Etymology '' Fauna'' comes from the name Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and ''panis'' is the Greek equivalent of fauna. ''Fauna'' is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was fir ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carditidae
Carditidae is a family of marine bivalve clams of the order Carditida, which was long included in the Venerida. They are the type taxon of the superfamily Carditoidea. Carditidae is a neglected and poorly classified family. It has six subfamilies recognised by the World Register of Marine Species, but the WoRMS has refrained from assigning contents to any family due to ambiguity and overlap in their definitions. Additionally, several genera have been or are still considered subgenera of other genera by some authors. Genera The genera of Carditidae recognised by the World Register of Marine Species are: *'' Akardita'' La Perna, Brunetti & Della Bella, 2018 *'' Arcturellina'' Chavan, 1951 * '' Bathycardita'' Iredale, 1924 * '' Beguina'' Röding, 1798 *'' Cardiocardita'' Anton, 1838 * '' Cardita'' Bruguière, 1792 * ''Carditamera'' * '' Carditellopsis'' Iredale, 1936 * '' Cardites'' Link, 1807 * ''Centrocardita'' Sacco, 1899 *†'' Choniocardia'' Cossmann, 1904 *†''Claiborni ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Byssus
A byssus () is a bundle of filaments secreted by many species of bivalve mollusc that function to attach the mollusc to a solid surface. Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells ( Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytilidae), and Dreissenidae. Filaments Byssus filaments are created by certain kinds of marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks, which use the byssus to attach themselves to rocks, substrates, or seabeds. In edible mussels, the inedible byssus is commonly known as the "beard", and is removed before cooking. Many species of mussels secrete byssus threads to anchor themselves to surfaces, with families including the Arcidae, Mytilidae, Anomiidae, Pinnidae, Pectinidae, Dreissenidae, and Unionidae. Mechanics The byssus, or byssal complex, is composed of multiple extracellular collagenous threads that are placed radially by the mussel from a central stem. Each thread is composed of three regions: a corrugated proximal region close to the mu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sessility (motility)
Sessility is the biological property of an organism describing its lack of a means of self-locomotion. Sessile organisms for which natural ''motility'' is absent are normally immobile. This is distinct from the botanical concept of sessility, which refers to an organism or biological structure attached directly by its base without a stalk. Sessile organisms can move via external forces (such as water currents), but are usually permanently attached to something. Organisms such as corals lay down their own substrate from which they grow. Other sessile organisms grow from a solid such as a rock, dead tree trunk, or a man-made object such as a buoy or ship's hull. Mobility Sessile animals typically have a motile phase in their development. Sponges have a motile larval stage and become sessile at maturity. Conversely, many jellyfish develop as sessile polyps early in their life cycle. In the case of the cochineal, it is in the nymph stage (also called the crawler stage) that the co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Filter Feeder
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish (including some sharks). Some birds, such as flamingos and certain species of duck, are also filter feeders. Filter feeders can play an important role in clarifying water, and are therefore considered ecosystem engineers. They are also important in bioaccumulation and, as a result, as indicator organisms. Fish Most forage fish are filter feeders. For example, the Atlantic menhaden, a type of herring, lives on plankton caught in midwater. Adult menhaden can filter up to four gallons of water a minute and play an important role in clarifying ocean water. They are also a natural check to the deadly red tide. Extensive article on the role of menhaden in the ecosystem and possibl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Intertidal Zone
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as seastars, sea urchins, and many species of coral with regional differences in biodiversity. Sometimes it is referred to as the '' littoral zone'' or '' seashore'', although those can be defined as a wider region. The well-known area also includes steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, bogs or wetlands (e.g., vast mudflats). The area can be a narrow strip, as in Pacific islands that have only a narrow tidal range, or can include many meters of shoreline where shallow beach slopes interact with high tidal excursion. The peritidal zone is similar but somewhat wider, extending from above the highest tide level to below the lowest. Organisms in the intertidal zone are adapted to an environment of harsh extremes, living in w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands ( es, Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the Equator west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of slightly over 33,000 (2020). The province is divided into the Cantons of Ecuador, cantons of San Cristóbal Island, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos), Santa Cruz, and Isabela Island (Galápagos), Isabela, the three most populated islands in the chain. The Galápagos are famous for their large number of Endemism, endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin in the 1830s and inception of Darwin's theory, inspired his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. All of these islands are protected as part of Ecuador's Galápagos National Park and Galápagos Marine Reserve, Marine Reserve. Thus far, there is no firm evidence that Polynesian expansion, Polynesians or the indigenous peoples of South Am ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Log From The Sea Of Cortez
''The Log from the Sea of Cortez'' is an English-language book written by American author John Steinbeck and published in 1951. It details a six-week (March 11 – April 20) marine specimen-collecting boat expedition he made in 1940 at various sites in the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez), with his friend, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts. It is regarded as one of Steinbeck's most important works of non-fiction chiefly because of the involvement of Ricketts, who shaped Steinbeck's thinking and provided the prototype for many of the pivotal characters in his fiction, and the insights it gives into the philosophies of the two men. ''The Log from the Sea of Cortez'' is the narrative portion of an earlier work, ''Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research'', which was published by Steinbeck and Ricketts shortly after their return from the Gulf of California, and combined the journals of the collecting expedition, reworked by Steinbeck, with Rick ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bivalvia
Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bivalves have no head and they lack some usual molluscan organs, like the radula and the odontophore. They include the clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families that live in saltwater, as well as a number of families that live in freshwater. The majority are filter feeders. The gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing. Most bivalves bury themselves in sediment, where they are relatively safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. Some bivalves, such as the scallops and file shells, can swim. The shipworms bore into wood, clay, or stone and live inside these substances. The shell of a bivalve is composed o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ed Ricketts
Edward Flanders Robb Ricketts (May 14, 1897 – May 11, 1948) was an American marine biologist, ecologist, and philosopher. He is best known for ''Between Pacific Tides'' (1939), a pioneering study of intertidal ecology. He is also known as a mentor who influenced the writer John Steinbeck, which resulted in a collaboration and coauthorship of the book, ''Sea of Cortez'' (1941). Eleven years later, and just 3 years after the death of Ed Ricketts, John Steinbeck reprinted the narrative portion of their coauthored book with a new publisher, but removed Ed as coauthor, while adding a biography of Ed Ricketts, and Steinbeck made a new title for the book as '' The Log from the Sea of Cortez'' (1946). Steinbeck also added a eulogy for Ricketts, though it was met with public backlash. Life Ricketts was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Abbott Ricketts and Alice Beverly Flanders Ricketts. He had a younger sister, Frances, and a younger brother, Thayer. His sister, Frances (Ricketts) Stro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception." He has been called "a giant of American letters." During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels '' Tortilla Flat'' (1935) and '' Cannery Row'' (1945), the multi-generation epic '' East of Eden'' (1952), and the novellas '' The Red Pony'' (1933) and '' Of Mice and Men'' (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning '' The Grapes of Wrath'' (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. In the first 75 years after it was published, it sold 14 million copies. Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |