ABSTRACT
2The characteristics of the class bivalvia along with the human uses/ commercial importance of edible marine bivalves are given in this chapter.
The class Bivalvia (Lamellibranchiata or Pelecypoda) of the phylum Mollusca comprises more than 15,000 species of commercially important true oysters, pearl oysters, mussels, scallops, clams, etc. These molluscs are characterized by a shell that is divided from front to back into left and right valves. The valves are connected to one another at a hinge. In most molluscan species, the respiratory gills have become modified into organs of filtration called ctenidia. In keeping with a largely sedentary and deposit-feeding or suspension-feeding lifestyle, the bivalves have lost the head and the radular rasping organ which are the characteristic features of most molluscs.
