Solemyidae

Taxobox
name = Solemyidae

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image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Bivalvia
subclassis = Cryptodonta
ordo = Solemyoida
familia = Solemyidae
familia_authority = J. E. Gray, 1840
subdivision_ranks = Genera and species
subdivision = See text.

Solemyidae is a family of bivalves in the order Solemyoida, the members are known as Solemyids [Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand (1979) ISBN 0-00-216906-1] .They are remarkable in that their digestive tract is either extremely small or non-existent, and their feeding appendages are too short to reach outside the shell [Reid R. G. B. (1989) The unwhole organism. [http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/29/3/1133/ American Zoologist 29:1133-1140] ] .It has been shown that these clams harbour sulphur-oxidizing Bacteria intracellularly within their gill filaments. As chemoautotrophs, these bacterial symbionts synthesize organic matter from CO₂ and are the primary source of nutrition for the whole organism [Cavanaugh C. M., Abbott M. S., Veenhuis M. (1988) Immunochemical localization of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in the symbiont-containing gills of Solemya velum (Bivalvia, Mollusca). [http://www.pnas.org/content/85/20/7786 PNAS 85:7786–7789] ] . In turn, the animal host provides its symbionts a habitat in which they have access to the substrates of chemoautotrophy (O₂, CO₂, and reduced inorganic compounds such as H₂S). Together, these partners create "animals" with novel metabolic capabilities.

Genera and species in the family Solemyidae

* "Acharax" Dall, 1908
** "Acharax alinae"
** "Acharax johnstoni"
* "Solemya" Lamarck, 1818
** "Solemya borealis" Totten, 1834
** "Solemya caribbaea" H.E. Vokes, 1970
** "Solemya grandis" A.E. Verrill & Bush, 1898
** "Solemya occidentalis" Deshayes, 1857
** "Solemya parkinsoni" E.A. Smith, 1874
** "Solemya patagonica" E.A. Smith, 1885
** "Solemya reidi" (syn. "Solemya macrodactyla") Rochebrune & Mabille, 1891
** "Solyema togata" Poli 1795
** "Solemya velum" Say, 1822

References

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