page_title: Bivalve shell
section_title: Shell anatomy, structure and composition
hierarchical_section_title: Bivalve shell / Shell anatomy, structure and composition
caption_attribution_description: Diagram of the internal view of the left valve of a bivalve shell resembling a venerid.
context_page_description: A bivalve shell is part of the body, the exoskeleton or shell, of a bivalve mollusk. In life, the shell of this class of mollusks is composed of two hinged parts or valves. Bivalves are very common in essentially all aquatic locales, including saltwater, brackish water, and freshwater. The shells of bivalves commonly wash up on beaches and along the edges of lakes, rivers, and streams.
  Bivalves by definition possess two shells or valves, a "right valve" and a "left valve", that are joined by a ligament. The two valves usually articulate with one another using structures known as "teeth" which are situated along the hinge line. In many bivalve shells, the two valves are symmetrical along the hinge line—when truly symmetrical, such an animal is said to be equivalved; if the valves vary from each other in size or shape, inequivalved. If symmetrical front-to-back, the valves are said to be equilateral, and are otherwise considered inequilateral.
  This exoskeleton serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage. The shell has several layers, and is typically made of calcium carbonate precipitated out into an organic matrix.
context_section_description: The bivalve shell is composed of two calcareous valves. The mantle, a thin membrane surrounding the body, secretes the shell valves, ligament, and hinge teeth. The mantle lobes secrete the valves, and the mantle crest creates the other parts.
  The mantle itself is attached to the shell by numerous small mantle retractor muscles, which are arranged in a narrow line along the length of the interior of the shell. The position of this line is often quite clearly visible on the inside of each valve of a bivalve shell, as a shiny line, the pallial line, which runs along a small distance in from the outer edge of each valve, usually joining the anterior adductor muscle scar to the posterior adductor muscle scar. The adductor muscles are what allow the bivalve to close the shell tightly.
  In some bivalves the mantle edges fuse to form siphons, which take in and expel water during suspension feeding. Species which live buried in sediment usually have long siphons, and when the bivalve needs to close its shell, these siphons retract into a pocket-like space in the mantle. This feature of the internal anatomy of a bivalve is clearly indicated on the interior of the shell surface as a pallial sinus, an indentation in the pallial line. In addition, the water flows through incurrent siphon ventrally and exit out of the body through excurrent dorsally to the body.
  The valves of the shell are made of either calcite (as with, e.g. oysters) or both calcite and aragonite, usually with the aragonite forming an inner layer, as is the case with the Pteriida which have this layer in the form of nacre or mother of pearl. The outermost layer of the shell is known as the periostracum and is composed of a horny organic substance. This sometimes forms a yellowish or brownish "skin" on the outside of the shell. The periostracum may start to peel off of a shell when the shell is allowed to dry out for long periods.
  The shell is added to, and increases in size, in two ways—by increments added to the open edge of the shell, and by a gradual thickening throughout the animal's life.
  The two shell valves are held together at the animal's dorsum by the ligament, which is composed of the tensilium and resilium. In life the ligament opens the shell (like a bent eraser in a door hinge), and the adductor muscle or muscles close the shell (like a person pulling the door closed by the handle).  When a bivalve dies, its adductor muscle(s) relax and the resilium pushes the valves open.
caption: Diagram of the internal shell structure of the left valve of bivalve resembling a venerid
exif: {}