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Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Spiralia
Cladus: Lophotrochozoa
Phylum: Mollusca
Classis: Bivalvia
Subclassis: Pteriomorphia
Ordo: Arcida
Superfamilia: Arcoidea

Familia: Arcidae
Genera (29): AcarAnadaraArca – Asperarca – Barbatia – Bathyarca – Bentharca – Calloarca – Cucullaearca – Deltaodon – Destacar – Fugleria – Hawaiarca – Litharca – Lunarca – Mabellarca – Mesocibota – Mimarcaria – Miratacar – Mosambicarca – Paranadara – Samacar – Scapharca – Scaphula – Senilia – Tegillarca – Trisidos – Vitracar – Xenophorarca

[source: WoRMS]

Check (2): Inquirenda – Porterius
Name

Arcidae Lamarck, 1809
References

ITIS

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Archenmuscheln
English: ark clams
polski: arkowate

Ark clam is the common name for a family of small to large-sized saltwater clams or marine bivalve molluscs in the family Arcidae. Ark clams vary both in shape and size. They number about 200 species worldwide.

The shells of ark clams are often white or cream, but in some species, the shell is striped with, tinted with, or completely colored, a rich brown. In life the shell of most species has a top shell layer that is thick brown periostracum affixed to the harder calcareous part of the shell. In some species such as Barbatia, this outer horny covering is tufted at the end of the shell into something that resembles a beard, hence the name Barbatia or bearded one.
One fossil valve of Anadara from Cyprus, dating to the Pliocene Epoch of the geologic timescale, approx. 5.3-2.5 million years BP

The group is known as "ark shells" because species such as Arca have a large flat area between the umbones which, in an undamaged shell, somewhat resembles a deck, with the rest of the shell perhaps illustrating an ancient wooden boat such as Noah's ark is thought to have been.

All ark shells have a long straight hinge line with a single row of numerous small and unspecialized "teeth". This is known as a "taxodont dentition" and represents an ancient ancestor. This kind of hinge line is also found in the bivalve families Glycymerididae, Nuculidae and Nuculanidae.

The thick outer skin or periostracum of an ark clam can act as camouflage, such that the shells can sometimes look like stones when lying on the bottom.

Large ark clams, such as Arca zebra, are commonly used as bait, as well as food, throughout the Caribbean.

Some ark clams species, such as the blood cockle (Anadara granosa, a.k.a. Tegillarca granosa) are raised in aquaculture, e.g. in the estuaries of China's Fujian coast.[1]

Tegillarca granosa was used as a food by Indigenous peoples living on the northern Australian coastline through at least the past ~4500 years, with extensive evidence preserved in the form of shell mound sites.[2]
Genera
Boiled ark clams served in Tanjong Pagar, Singapore
Numerous valves of arcids, genus Senilia, washed up on the beach in Senegal

Genera within the family Arcidae include:

Acar Gray, 1857
Anadara Gray, 1847
Arca Linnaeus, 1758
Barbatia Gray, 1847
Bathyarca Kobelt, 1891
Bentharca Verrill and Bush, 1898
Larkinia Reinhart, 1935
Samacar Iredale, 1936
Senilia Linnaeus, 1758
Tegillarca Iredale, 1939

References

Ruǎn Jīnshān; Li Xiùzhū; Lín Kèbīng; Luō Dōnglián; Zhōu Chén; Cài Qīnghǎi (阮金山;李秀珠;林克冰;罗冬莲;周宸;蔡清海), 安海湾南岸滩涂养殖贝类死亡原因调查分析 Archived 2020-07-17 at the Wayback Machine (Analysis of the causes of death of farmed shellfish on the mudflats in the southern part of Anhai Bay), 《福建水产》 (Fujian Aquaculture), 2005-04
Patrick, Faulkner (2013). Life on the margins : an archaeological investigation of late Holocene economic variability, Blue Mud Bay, Northern Australia. Acton, A.C.T. ISBN 9781925021103. OCLC 850906221.

Mollusca Images

Biology Encyclopedia

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