Glossary

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The glossary provided here is largely based on “Seashells of Southern Florida: Bivalves,” by Paula M. Mikkelsen & Rüdiger Bieler, Princeton University Press. Production of this glossary was funded in part by the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships in Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy [PEET] Program, NSF-DEB-9978119, “Bivalves - Research, Training, Electronic Dissemination of Data” (1999-2008) to Bieler and Mikkelsen.

B

BEAK
See UMBO.
BIFID
BIFID fig.Divided into two parts by a groove, usually in reference to HINGE TEETH (figure: Periglypta listeri).
BRANCHIAL MEMBRANE/SEPTUM
See SIPHONAL SEPTUM.
BRANCHIAL SIEVE
See SEPTIBRANCH.
BRANCHIAL SIPHON
See INCURRENT SIPHON.
BUCCAL FUNNEL
BUCCAL FUNNEL fig.Expanded trumpet-shaped mouth, occurring in such families as Verticordiidae, Poromyidae, and Cuspidariidae.
BYSSAL FASCIOLE
BYSSAL FASCIOLE fig.Filled-in track of the BYSSAL NOTCH retained on the external shell surface as the shell increases in size (figure: Similipecten nanus).
BYSSAL FORAMEN
See BYSSAL NOTCH.
BYSSAL GROOVE
See BYSSUS.
BYSSAL NOTCH
BYSSAL NOTCH fig.Rounded or trigonal embayment in the shell margin for passage of the BYSSUS when the shell is closed; called BYSSAL FORAMEN in Anomiidae (figure: Isognomon bicolor).
BYSSUS (pl. BYSSI)
BYSSUS (pl. BYSSI) fig. no. 1BYSSUS (pl. BYSSI) fig. no. 2Elastic fibers (or calcified, in Anomiidae) secreted by a gland in the FOOT, exiting through a ventral BYSSAL GROOVE, and used to anchor the animal to a hard substratum (figures: Pteriidae, Pteria colymbus).