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Chama florida (Florida jewelbox) (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands)

Image of Chamoidea Lamarck 1809

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: English: Chama florida (Lamarck, 1819) - Florida jewelbox shell from the Virgin Islands. Bivalves are bilaterally symmetrical molluscs having two calcareous, asymmetrical shells (valves) - they include the clams, oysters, and scallops. In most bivalves, the two shells are mirror images of each other (the major exception is the oysters). They occur in marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments. Bivalves are also known as pelecypods and lamellibranchiates. Bivalves are sessile, benthic organisms - they occur on or below substrates. Most of them are filter-feeders, using siphons to bring in water, filter the water for tiny particles of food, then expel the used water. The majority of bivalves are infaunal - they burrow into unlithified sediments. In hard substrate environments, some forms make borings, in which the bivalve lives. Some groups are hard substrate encrusters, using a mineral cement to attach to rocks, shells, or wood. The fossil record of bivalves is Cambrian to Recent. They are especially common in the post-Paleozoic fossil record. Seen here is a beachworn Florida jewelbox, or pretty jewelbox, Chama florida, which is a member of the Family Chamidae. Jewelboxes, also known as rock oysters, first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous. They are epifaunal filter-feeders - most are hard substrate encrusters. They occur in shallow-water, tropical to temperate marine settings. Chama florida occurs in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Bivalvia, Heterodonta, Venerida, Chamidae Locality: St. Thomas, western Virgin Islands. Date: 29 September 2020, 17:20:11. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/50409423386/. Author: James St. John.

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James St. John
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James St. John
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James St. John (47445767@N05)
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b5a74e4f0aebc961873b3c2a2fe9e029