Nuculidae
Overview
Nuculidae Gray, 1824
Common Name: Nut clams
Extant/Extinct
Key morphological features: The shell is equivalve, with an oval, wedge, or trigonal shape. The shell is composed of aragonite and exterior sculpture is typically smooth, with occasional striations.
SIZE: Up to ~50mm
Paleoecology: The Nuculidae are marine and live infaunally, buried in sand or mud. They are capable of burrowing rapidly and plowing through sand or mud by using their planar foot. Nuculids tend to rest just beneath the sediment surface of the substrate, allowing a current to flow through their siphons.
MOBILITY: Mobile (burrow)
FEEDING MODE: Deposit Feeder/Suspension Feeder
HABITAT: Infaunal
Sources:
Mikkelsen, P.M., and Bieler, R. 2008. Seashells of Southern Florida: Bivalves. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 503 pp.
Cox, L.R., et al. 1969. Systematic Descriptions, in Cox et al., eds., Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part N, Mollusca 6, Volume 1. The University of Kansas and Geological Society of America. 489 pp.
