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bivalve

bivalve, aquatic mollusk of the class Pelecypoda (“hatchet-foot”) or Bivalvia, with a laterally compressed body and a shell consisting of two valves, or movable pieces, hinged by an elastic ligament. Bivalves, which include clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, and scallops, are an important food source for humans, as well as for gastropods, fish, and shore birds.

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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

More on bivalve from Fact Monster:

  • bivalve: Bivalve Specialization - Bivalve Specialization Bivalves differ in their habits: some, such as the oysters and marine ...
  • bivalve: Bivalve Shells - Bivalve Shells The two valves or a bivalve shell cover the right and left sides of the animal; they ...
  • bivalve: Bivalve Anatomy - Bivalve Anatomy Within the shell is a fleshy layer of tissue called the mantle; there is a cavity ...
  • bivalve: Classification - Classification Bivalves are classified in the phylum Mollusca, class Pelecypoda or bivalvia.
  • Pelecypoda - Pelecypoda: Pelecypoda: see bivalve.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Zoology: Invertebrates
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