ABSTRACT
12A brief account of the different aspects of the biology and ecology of edible marine bivalve molluscs is given in this chapter.
Marine bivalves are characterized by a laterally compressed body with an external shell of two halves which are hinged dorsally. Most bivalves are marine and there are no terrestrial forms. Fertilization is usually external, followed by trochophore and veliger stages larvae and metamorphosis to adult form.
