| content |
| Nuculidae Fossil range: Paleozoic to Present |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Shells of Acila cobboldiae
|
||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Genera | ||||||||||
|
See text. |
Nuculidae is a family of small saltwater clams in the order Nuculoida.
The shells are small, ovate to triagonal, usually somewhat inflated, inequivalve, the posterior end short. The hinge is composed of two long lateral rows of vertical, narrow, sharp, interlocking teeth, separated at the beak by a ligament pit. The foot is very large, but the pallial line is entire, the gills are small and narrow, and there are neither siphons nor byssus. The interior of the shell is pearly or nacreous, in contrast to the transversely elongated Nuculanidae, which lack internal nacre.
They are found in most seas.
Genera
- Acila H. Adams and A. Adams, 1858
- Adrana Adams and Adams, 1858
- Austronucula Powell, 1939
- Brevinucula Thiele, 1934
- Ennucula Iredale, 1931
- Nucula Lamarck, 1799
- Nuculoma Cossmann, 1907
- Pronucula Hedley, 1902
References
- Nuculidae (TSN 79123). Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
