''Cardita'' 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 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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

Naming

Especially in the early 19th century, this genus was often confused with the Carditid genus '' Cardites''. ''Cardita'' was originally established by J.G. Bruguière in 1792. However, in 1801

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

described it under the name ''Cardites''. J.H.F. Link subsequently described a new genus using the name ''Cardites'' in 1807. When this homonymy was realised, Megerle in 1811 re-described Link's genus ''Cardites'' as ''Cardita''. Megerle's action resulted in four technically valid names which formed two mutual pairs of

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

s. The matter was ultimately resolved by starting with the oldest name – that of Bruguière – and applying it as intended, and suppressing Lamarck's name so that Link's

junior homonym In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon. The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the s ...

could be used for ''Cardites''. In addition to the numerous

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

s, '' Byssomera'' – a junior synonym or subgenus of ''

Carditamera ''Carditamera'' is a genus of molluscs in the family Carditidae. It is the type genus of the subfamily Carditamerinae. ''Byssomera'' is a junior synonym or subgenus of ''Carditamera'' but has sometimes been written as a subgenus of ''Cardita'', ...

'' – has sometimes been written as a subgenus of ''Cardita'', due to its type species having been synonymised from ''Cardita'' (''Byssomera'') ''affinis'' to ''Carditamera'' (''Byssomera'') ''affinis''.

Species

According to the

WoRMS The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

: *'' Cardita aviculina'' Lamarck, 1819 *'' Cardita caliculaeformis'' Deshayes in Maillard, 1863 *'' Cardita calyculata'' (Linnaeus, 1758) *'' Cardita crassicosta'' Lamarck, 1819 *'' Cardita distorta'' Reeve, 1843 *'' Cardita excisa'' Philippi, 1847 *'' Cardita ffinchi'' (Melvill, 1898) *'' Cardita hawaiensis'' (Dall, Bartsch & Rehder, 1938) *'' Cardita kyushuensis'' (Okutani, 1963) *'' Cardita leana'' Dunker, 1860 *†'' Cardita marwicki'' Laws, 1944 *'' Cardita muricata'' G.B. Sowerby I, 1833 *†'' Cardita northcrofti'' Marwick, 1928 *'' Cardita pica'' Reeve, 1843 *'' Cardita senegalensis'' Reeve, 1843 *'' Cardita variegata'' Bruguière, 1792 *'' Cardita vinsoni'' Viader, 1951

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3017099 Carditidae Bivalve genera