Venus is a genus of small to large saltwater clams in the family Veneridae, which is sometimes known as the Venus clams and their relatives. These are marine bivalvemolluscs.
The genus Venus is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and sexuality.
Taxonomyedit
However, some bivalves are still called Venus clams because they used to be in the genus Venus, though they are now placed in other genera: these include the species within the genus Mercenaria, and Pitar dione, the Venus shell described in sexual terms by Linnaeus.[1][2]
Fossil recordsedit
The genus is known from the Cretaceous to the recent periods (age range: from 136.4 Mya to now). Fossils shells have been found all over the world. About 20 extinct species are known.[3]
The family Veneridaeedit
The family Veneridae contains over 400 known species, many of which are attractive and popular with shell-collectors.
The shells of venerids vary in shape, and include shells that are circular, triangular, and rectangular. Characteristically, Venus clams possess a porcelain-like inner shell layer, a complex tooth structure in the hinge, well-developed escutcheon and lunule, and a well-developed pallial sinus.
Veneridae colonize the sandy ocean bottom, and their populations are often dense and large. The Veneroida order typically has a folded gill structure which is well developed for filtering out small food particles.
The common names of clams in this genus often include the name Venus. A few species that still have "Venus" as part of their common name, but which are no longer in the genus Venus are:
^Philippe Bouchet, Mark Huber & Serge Gofas (2012). "Venus Linnaeus, 1758". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Venus (genus).
Veneridae, Venus clams
Veneridae, Venus clam
Venus, Veneridae
AMNH Veneridae holdings
NC Sea Grant Seashells of NC Field Guide
NC Seashells
January 01, 1970
venus, bivalve, venus, genus, small, large, saltwater, clams, family, veneridae, which, sometimes, known, venus, clams, their, relatives, these, marine, bivalve, molluscs, venus, clamtemporal, range, cretaceous, present, preꞒ, venus, affinis, scientific, class. Venus is a genus of small to large saltwater clams in the family Veneridae which is sometimes known as the Venus clams and their relatives These are marine bivalve molluscs Venus clamTemporal range Cretaceous Present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Venus affinis Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Mollusca Class Bivalvia Order Venerida Superfamily Veneroidea Family Veneridae Genus VenusLinnaeus 1758 Type species Venus verrucosaLinnaeus 1758 Synonyms Antigona Ventricola Romer 1867 Clausina T Brown 1827 invalid junior objective synonym of Venus Cytherea Ventricola Romer 1867 Ventricola Romer 1867 Venulites Schlotheim 1813 Venus Ventricola Romer 1867 Venus Ventricoloidea Sacco 1900 alternate representation Venus Venus Linnaeus 1758 alternate representation Venusarius Dumeril 1805 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Taxonomy 3 Fossil records 4 The family Veneridae 5 Common name 6 Species 7 References 8 External linksEtymology editThe genus Venus is named after Venus the Roman goddess of love and sexuality Taxonomy editHowever some bivalves are still called Venus clams because they used to be in the genus Venus though they are now placed in other genera these include the species within the genus Mercenaria and Pitar dione the Venus shell described in sexual terms by Linnaeus 1 2 Fossil records editThe genus is known from the Cretaceous to the recent periods age range from 136 4 Mya to now Fossils shells have been found all over the world About 20 extinct species are known 3 The family Veneridae editThe family Veneridae contains over 400 known species many of which are attractive and popular with shell collectors The shells of venerids vary in shape and include shells that are circular triangular and rectangular Characteristically Venus clams possess a porcelain like inner shell layer a complex tooth structure in the hinge well developed escutcheon and lunule and a well developed pallial sinus Veneridae colonize the sandy ocean bottom and their populations are often dense and large The Veneroida order typically has a folded gill structure which is well developed for filtering out small food particles Common name edit nbsp Linnaeus s 1771 drawing of the elegant Venus clam which he had named Venus dione The common names of clams in this genus often include the name Venus A few species that still have Venus as part of their common name but which are no longer in the genus Venus are Sunray Venus Macrocallista nimbosa Lightfoot Cross barred Venus Chione cancellata Linnaeus Lady in waiting Venus Chione intapurpurea Conrad Imperial Venus Lirophora latilirata Conrad Grey pygmy Venus Chione grus Holmes Striped Venus clam Chamelea gallina Linnaeus 1758 Elegant Venus clam Pitar dione Linnaeus 1758 Species edit nbsp Venus declivis The genus Venus contains these extant species 4 Venus albina G B Sowerby II 1853 Venus casina Linnaeus 1758 Venus cassinaeformis Yokoyama 1926 Venus chevreuxi Dautzenberg 1891 Venus crebrisulca Lamarck 1818 Venus declivis G B Sowerby II 1853 Venus lyra Hanley 1845 Venus nux Gmelin 1791 Venus rosalina Rang 1802 synonym of Venus crebrisulca Lamarck 1818 Venus subrosalina Tomlin 1923 Venus thomassini Fischer Piette amp Vukadinovic 1977 Venus verdensis Dautzenberg amp H Fischer 1906 Venus verrucosa Linnaeus 1758References edit Linnaeus 1758 Systema Naturae 10th ed pp 684 685 Linnaeus 1767 Systema Naturae 12th ed pp 1128 1129 Fossilworks Philippe Bouchet Mark Huber amp Serge Gofas 2012 Venus Linnaeus 1758 WoRMS World Register of Marine Species Retrieved February 14 2012 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Venus genus Veneridae Venus clams Veneridae Venus clam Venus Veneridae AMNH Veneridae holdings NC Sea Grant Seashells of NC Field Guide NC Seashells Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Venus bivalve amp oldid 1196785455, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
