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The pinnidae are a taxonomic
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 ...
of large saltwater clams sometimes known as pen shells. They are 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 order Pteriida
The Pteriida are an order (biology), order of large and medium-sized Marine (ocean), marine bivalve mollusc, mollusks. It includes five families, among them the Pteriidae (pearl oysters and winged oysters).
2010 taxonomy
In 2010, a new propos ...
.
Shell description
The shells of bivalves in this family are fragile and have a long and triangular shape, and in life the pointed end is anchored in sediment using abyssus
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 (Mytili ...
. The shells have a thin but highly iridescent inner layer of nacre
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is ...
in the part of the shell near the umbos (the pointed end).
The family Pinnidae includes the fan shell, '' Atrina fragilis'', and '' Pinna nobilis'', the source of sea silk. Some species are also fished for their food value.
Human use
As Joseph RosewaterRosewater, Joseph. (1961). “The Family Pinnidae in the Indo-Pacific.” ''Indo-Pacific Mollusca'', vol. 1, no. 4. September 28, 1961, pp. 175-176. commented in 1961:"“The Pinnidae have considerable economic importance in many parts of the world. They produce pearls of moderate value. In the Mediterranean area, material made from the holdfast or byssus of ''Pinna nobilis'' Linné has been utilized in the manufacture of clothing for many centuries: gloves, shawls, stockings and cloaks. Apparel made from this material has an attractive golden hue and these items were greatly valued by the ancients. Today, Pinnidae are eaten in Japan, Polynesia, in several other Indo-Pacific island groups, and on the west coast of Mexico. In Polynesia, the valves of ''Atrina vexillum'' are carved to form decorative articles, and entire valves of larger specimens are sometimes used as plates.”
Genera
Genera within the family Pinnidae: * ''Atrina
''Atrina'' is a cosmopolitan genus of bivalve molluscs belonging to the family Pinnidae.
A typical species is ''Atrina fragilis, A. fragilis'', found in British waters. ''Atrina rigida, A. rigida'' (John Lightfoot FRS, Lightfoot, 1786) is found ...
'' Gray
Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...
, 1842 (40 species)
* '' Pinna'' Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...
(27 species)
* '' Streptopinna'' von Martens, 1850 (monotypic)
References
Further reading
* * Turner, Ruth D. and Rosewater, Joseph 1958. "The Family Pinnidae in the Western Atlantic" ''Johnsonia'', Vol. 3 No. 38, June 28, 1958, pp. 285–326. * R. Tucker Abbott & S. Peter Dance, 1982, “Compendium of seashells: a color guide to more than 4,200 of the world’s marine shells”, E.P. Dutton Inc., New York. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1519159 Bivalve families