Limopsidae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of bivalves, related to the ark clam

Ark clam

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....

s and bittersweet

Glycymerididae

Glycymerididae, previously known as Glycymeridae, common names dog cockles or bittersweets, is a worldwide family of marine bivalve mollusks, related to the ark clams. In this family the shell is generally round in outline, is slightly longer than it is wide, and the external ligament lacks...

s. This family contains about thirty species in seven genera.

Species

• Crenulilimopsis Kuroda & Habe, 1971
• Cnisma Mayer, 1868
• Empleconia Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1908
• Limarca Tate, 1886
• Limopsis Sassi, 1827
  • Limopsis affinis A. E. Verrill, 1885
  • Limopsis antillensis Dall
    W. H. Dall
    William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
    
    , 1881
  • Limopsis aurita
  • Limopsis cristata Jeffreys, 1876
  • Limopsis davidis Hedley
    Charles Hedley
    Charles Hedley was a naturalist, active in Australia and winner of the 1925 Clarke Medal.-Early life:...
    
    , 1899 original species description, pages 564-565.
  • Limopsis davinae Esteves, 1984
  • Limopsis galathea
  • Limopsis hirtella Mabille & Rochebrune, 1889
  • Limopsis janeiroensis E. A. Smith, 1915
  • Limopsis marionensis E. A. Smith, 1885
  • Limopsis minuta (Philippi
    Rodolfo Amando Philippi
    Rodolfo Amando Philippi was a German-Chilean paleontologist and zoologist....
    
    , 1836)
  • Limopsis multistrata
  • Limopsis onchodes Dall
    W. H. Dall
    William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
    
    , 1927
  • Limopsis paucidentata Dall
    W. H. Dall
    William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
    
    , 1886
  • Limopsis pelagica E. A. Smith, 1885
  • Limopsis perieri P. Fischer, 1869
  • Limopsis plana A. E. Verrill, 1885
  • Limopsis radialis Dall
    W. H. Dall
    William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
    
    , 1927
  • Limopsis spicata Oliver & Allen, 1980
  • Limopsis sulcata
    Limopsis sulcata
    Limopsis sulcata, or the sulcate limopsis, is a species of clam in the family Limopsidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from Massachusetts to the West Indies....
    
    A. E. Verrill & Bush, 1898
  • Limopsis surinamensis Oliver & Allen, 1980
  • Limopsis tenella Jeffreys, 1876
• Nipponolimopsis Habe, 1951
• Nucunella d'Orbigny, 1850

Limopsis

Species of the genus Limopsis are among the few suspension feeding deep-sea bivalves, and are absent from the continental shelf

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...

. They are relatively small, byssate (i.e. attached to the sea floor by strong threads, or byssus

Byssus

Byssus means both a silky filament by which certain molluscs attach themselves to hard surfaces, and a rare fabric, also called sea silk and its fibre source.-Word:...

), and, while the viscera are reduced, there is a comparatively thick shell. Differences between species are usually defined by minor differences in gill

Gill

A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...

 and palp structure. The eggs are relatively few and of a size which suggests that the plankton

Plankton

Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...

ic larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e do not feed.http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4622(19801120)291%3A1045%3C77%3ATFAAMO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D