Meretrix (bivalve)

Meretrix is a genus of edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. They appeared in the fossil record in the Cenomanian age.

Meretrix Temporal range: Cenomanian–Present ~94.3–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Meretrix lyrata (Sowerby, 1851) for sale as food in a market in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China
A whole shell of Meretrix lyrata showing both the outside and the inside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Subclass:	Heterodonta
Order:	Venerida
Superfamily:	Veneroidea
Family:	Veneridae
Genus:	Meretrix Lamarck 1799
Type species
Meretrix lyrata Sowerby 1851
Species
See text
Synonyms
Cytheraea (Meretrix) Lamarck 1805 Cytherea (Meretrix) Lamarck 1805

Species

Species in the genus Meretrix include:[1]

• Meretrix lamarckii[2]
• Meretrix lusoria
• Meretrix lyrata
• †Meretrix chalcedonica, early Danian Lefipán Formation, Cañadón Asfalto Basin, Argentina[3]
• †Meretrix dalli, Paleocene Martinez Formation of California
• †Meretrix faba, Cenomanian Khatiyah Formation of the United Arab Emirates[4]
• †Meretrix hikoshimensis, Oligocene Ashiya Group of Japan
• †Meretrix hornii, Paleocene to Eocene California
• †Meretrix indica, Paleocene Hangu Shales of Pakistan
• †Meretrix negritosensis, Miocene Zorritos Formation of Peru
• †Meretrix nuttalliopsis, Eocene Boca de Serpiente Formation of Trinidad and Tobago
• †Meretrix persica, Miocene of Iran and India
• †Meretrix shantii, Eocene Umm al-Rua'us Formation of Saudi Arabia
• †Meretrix stantoni, Paleocene California
• †Meretrix subimpressa, Eocene Trinidad and Tobago and Maryland
• †Meretrix uvasana, Paleocene to Eocene California

References

1. Meretrix at Fossilworks.org
2. Meretrix lamarckii at GBIF
3. Goin et al., 2006, p.506
4. Ras al Khaimah, UAE at Fossilworks.org

Bibliography

• Goin, Francisco; Rosendo Pascual; Marcelo F. Tejedor; Javier N. Gelfo; Michael O. Woodburne; Judd A. Case; Marcelo A. Reguero; Mariano Bond, and Guillermo M. López, Alberto L. Cione, Daniel Udrizar Sautheir, Lucía Balarino, Roberto A. Scassos, Francisco A. Medina and María C. Ubaldón. 2006. The earliest Tertiary therian mammal from South America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26. 505–510. Accessed 2019-03-30.

Further reading

• Reid, Shannon (2003). "Meretrix lyrata (Soweby, 1851)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-23.OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database, Academy of Natural Sciences.