Pterioidea

Pterioidea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Pteriida
Superfamily:	Pterioidea Gray 1840 (1820)

Pterioidea is a superfamily of epifaunal marine bivalves mostly inhabiting continental shelf regions of tropical and subtropical oceans. The superfamily includes the economically-important saltwater pearl oysters as well as the oddly shaped hammer oysters (neither of which, however, is considered a true oyster). A number of species have found use as model organisms in the fields of medicine and science.[1]

It includes the following three accepted living families:

• Malleidae, the hammer oysters, Lamarck, 1818
• Pteriidae, the pearl oysters, tree oysters, and winged oysters, Gray, 1847 (1820)
• Pulvinitidae, a family of rare deep sea oysters, no common name, Stephenson, 1941

Fossil families include:

• Family †Aviculopectinidae
• Family †Bakevelliidae
• Family †Cassianellidae
• Family †Isognomonidae
• Family †Kochiidae
• Family †Pergamidiidae
• Family †Plicatosylidae
• Family †Posidoniidae
• Family †Pterineidae
• Family †Retroceramidae

References

1. Tëmkin, Ilya (2010). "Molecular phylogeny of pearl oysters and their relatives (mollusca, bivalvia, pterioidea)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 10 (342): 1471–2148. Bibcode:2010BMCEE..10..342T. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-342. PMC 3271234. PMID 21059254.