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Mactridae

Family of bivalves

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Mactridae, common name the trough shells or duck clams, is a family of saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks in the order Venerida.

01Description

These clams have two short siphons, each with a horny sheath. The shell is shaped like a rounded-cornered equilateral triangle and there is a slight gape at the posterior. Each valve bears two cardinal teeth with four lateral teeth on the right valve and two on the left. The foot is white and wedge-shaped. They mostly inhabit the neritic zone.

Mactra stultorum
Mactra stultorum

02Ecology

Trough shells burrow in sand or fine gravel and never in muddy substrates.

Lutraria lutraria
Lutraria lutraria

03Subfamilies and genera

According to the World Register of Marine Species (2025), this family contains 56 genera and is split into the following subfamilies:

Subfamily Darininae

Subfamily Lutrariinae

Subfamily Mactrinae

Subfamily Resaniinae

Subfamily Tanysiphoninae

Incertae sedis

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Mactridae, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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