Kingdom Animalia Phylum Mollusca Order Pterioida | Class Bivalvia Rank Superfamily | |
Similar Pteriidae, Ostreoidea, Pterioida, Malleidae, Arcoidea | ||
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.
It includes the following three accepted families:
References
Pterioidea Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA