270 COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



fluviatile or lacustrine, and a few are terrestrial air-breath- 

 ers. All bivalves, and nearly all univalves, are aquatic. 

 Each zone of depth in the sea has its particular species. 



Class I. — Lamellibranchiata. 

 Lamellibranchs are all ordinary bivalves, as the Oyster 



and Clam. The shells differ from those of Brachiopods 

 in being placed on the right and left 

 sides of the body, so that the hinge is on 

 the back of the animal, and in being 

 unequilateral and eqnivalved.'"* The 

 umbo, or beak, is the point from wliicli 

 the growth of the valve commences. 



Fio. 224.-Peii.i Oyster Both Brachiopods and Lamellibrauclis 



{Meleagrinamargariti^ i ji ■ i i 



/era); one fonith nat- are hcadless ; but in the latter the nioutli 



ural size. Ceylon, „ ^ i. i.i , i i . 



points the same way as tlie umbo, *. e., 

 towards the anterior part. The length of the shell is 

 measured from its anterior to its posterior margin, and its 

 breadth from the dorsal side, where the 

 hinge is, to the opposite, or ventral, edge. 

 The valves are united to the animal by 

 one muscle (as in the Oyster), or two (as 

 in the Clam), and to each other by a 

 hinge. In some species, as some fresh- 

 water Mussels, the hinge is simply an 

 elastic ligament, passing on the outside 

 from one valve to the other just behind 

 the beak, so that it is on the stretcli when 

 the valves are closed, and another placed fm. 225. — snit-wntei- 

 between the edges of tlie valves, so that (««,«).' ^AUaJT^c 

 it is squeezed as tliey slint, like the spring "^""*"'' 

 in a watch-case. Such bivalves are said to be edentulous. 

 But in the majority, as the Clam, the valves also articulate 

 by interlocking parts called teeth. The valves are, there- 

 fore, opened by the ligaments, and closed by the muscles. 



