Description
Bivalves are a class of mollusks that have laterally compressed bodies, enclosed by a shell consisting of two symmetrical hinged parts. This class includes clams, oysters, mussels, and numerous other families that live in saltwater or freshwater. As a group, bivalves are headless and lack some of the usual organs present in other mollusks. The vast majority are filter feeders that obtain their food by filtering organic matter or tiny organisms from a current of water passing through a specialized filtering structure on the body.
Bivalves have been on Earth for over 500 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Cambrian, about 300 million years before the dinosaurs. They flourished during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras and are abundant in modern seas and oceans; their shells can be found on beaches around the globe.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.