Meretrix (bivalve)
| Meretrix Temporal range: Cenomanian–Present ~ | |
|---|---|
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| Meretrix lyrata (Sowerby, 1851) for sale as food in a market in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China | |
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| A whole shell of Meretrix lyrata showing both the outside and the inside | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Venerida |
| Superfamily: | Veneroidea |
| Family: | Veneridae |
| Genus: | Meretrix Lamarck 1799 |
| Type species | |
| Meretrix lyrata Sowerby 1851 | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
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Meretrix is a genus of edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. The genus first appeared in the fossil record during the Cenomanian.
Genomics
Chromosome-level genome assemblies of Meretrix lamarckii and Meretrix meretrix, providing the first reference genomes for those species, were published in 2026. The genomes are approximately 891 Mb and 835 Mb in size, respectively, and each comprises 19 pseudochromosomes.[1]
A telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of Meretrix taiwanica, providing the first reference genome for the species, was published in 2026. The haplotype-resolved assemblies are approximately 1.01 Gb in size and each comprises 19 pseudochromosomes.[2]
Species
Species in the genus Meretrix include:[3]
- Meretrix lamarckii[4]
- Meretrix meretrix[5][6]
- Meretrix lusoria[6]
- Meretrix lyrata[6]
- Meretrix taiwanica[7]
- †Meretrix chalcedonica, early Danian Lefipán Formation, Cañadón Asfalto Basin, Argentina[8]
- †Meretrix dalli, Paleocene Martinez Formation of California
- †Meretrix faba, Cenomanian Khatiyah Formation of the United Arab Emirates[9]
- †Meretrix hikoshimensis, Oligocene Ashiya Group of Japan
- †Meretrix hornii, Paleocene to Eocene California
- †Meretrix indica, Paleocene Hangu Shales of Pakistan
- †Meretrix negritosensis, Miocene Zorritos Formation of Peru
- †Meretrix nuttalliopsis, Eocene Boca de Serpiente Formation of Trinidad and Tobago
- †Meretrix persica, Miocene of Iran and India
- †Meretrix shantii, Eocene Umm al-Rua'us Formation of Saudi Arabia
- †Meretrix stantoni, Paleocene California
- †Meretrix subimpressa, Eocene Trinidad and Tobago and Maryland
- †Meretrix uvasana, Paleocene to Eocene California
References
- ↑ Law, Sean Tsz Sum; Nong, Wenyan; Au, Ming Fung Franco; Cheung, Leni Hiu Tung; Shum, Cheryl Wood Yee; Lee, Shing Yip; Cheung, Siu Gin; Hui, Jerome Ho Lam (2026-03-27). "Chromosome-level genomes of hard clams Meretrix lamarckii (Deshayes, 1853) and Meretrix meretrix (Linnaeus, 1758)". Scientific Data. 13 (1) 760. doi:10.1038/s41597-026-07119-0. PMC 13187332. PMID 41896227.
- ↑ Huang, Ching-Huei; Hsu, Po-Cheng; Hsieh, San-Tzu; Tseng, Fu-Shen; Lin, Chung-Yen (2026-05-08). "Telomere-to-Telomere, Haplotype-Resolved Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly and Annotation of Meretrix taiwanica". Scientific Data. doi:10.1038/s41597-026-07409-7. PMID 42103756.
- ↑ Meretrix at Fossilworks.org
- ↑ Meretrix lamarckii at GBIF
- ↑ Meretrix meretrix at WoRMS
- 1 2 3 Idris, Mohd Hanafi; Abu Hena, Mustafa Kamal; Hamli, Hadi; Rajaee, Amy; Al-Asif, Abdulla- (16 December 2022). "The molecular approach reveals the relationship among Venus clams (Meretrix spp.) community in Malaysia" (PDF). Biotropia. 29 (3): 213–224. doi:10.11598/btb.2022.29.3.1583.
- ↑ Hsiao, Sheng-Tai; Chuang, Shih-Chang (2023). "Meretrix taiwanica (Bivalvia: Veneridae), a previously misidentified new species in Taiwan". Molluscan Research. 43 (1): 12–21. doi:10.1080/13235818.2023.2189428.
- ↑ Goin et al., 2006, p.506
- ↑ Ras al Khaimah, UAE at Fossilworks.org
Further reading
- Reid, Shannon (2003). "Meretrix lyrata (Soweby, 1851)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database, Academy of Natural Sciences.