Evolution on the Half Shell...

The Assembling the Tree of Life: Bivalvia project (BivAToL) is a part of the Assembling the Tree of Life initiative, a large research effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Its goal is to reconstruct the evolutionary origins of all living things.

Jetsam & Flotsam

Back to Florida...

In November 2009, the three BivAToL PIs (Paula Mikkelsen, Rüdiger Bieler, Gonzalo Giribet) plus the three new postdocs (Sid Staubach, Ilya Temkin, Stephanie Clark) spent a week in Florida to collect additional bivalve target species.

Following Ft. Pierce, the three PIs spent an additional few days in the subtropical Lower Florida Keys to scuba dive on the reef and sample the shallow waters of Florida Bay. More...

 
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Malleus candeanus photo

Caribbean Hammer Oyster

Malleus candeanus (d'Orbigny, 1853)

Family Malleidae (Hammer Oysters and Sponge Fingers)

Malleus candeanus lives nestled in crevices on reefs from Florida to Brazil, with only its ventralmost shell tips exposed. The larvae of this species are known to be both photonegative and geonegative, driving them to settle in dark overhanging portions of the reef. Other members of the family bury themselves in sponges. Hammer oysters derive their name from extensions on either side of the shells of larger species (less obvious in the Caribbean species), creating a T- or hammer-like shape. Malleids are known since the Cretaceous, and are distributed worldwide in warm seas.

From “Seashells of Southern Florida: Bivalves,” Princeton University Press