Nucinellidae | |
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Nucinella dalli[1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Bivalvia |
Order: | Solemyida |
Superfamily: | Manzanelloidea |
Family: | Nucinellidae HE Vokes, 1956 |
Nucinellidae is a family of bivalves, in the order Solemyida. Its species are small and principally reside in deep-water environments. The species' average length is less than 5 millimetres (0.20 in), the largest species being Nucinella boucheti (La Perna, 2005) at a length of 25 millimetres (0.98 in). The family's characteristic features include large gills and reduced palps and their appendages;[2] oval shells with few hinge teeth; they possess a single adductor muscle and one divided foot exhibiting papillae.[3] The family contains two known genera: Huxleyia and Nucinella. Speaking of Nucinella, the genus' ligament system is of the simple arched type, lacking nymphae. Regarding the former, the system is "submerged" beneath its dorsal margin.[4]