Lithophaga, the date mussels, are a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Some of the earliest fossil Lithophaga shells have been found in Mesozoic rocks from the Alps and from Vancouver Island.[2][3]
The shells of species in this genus are long and narrow with parallel sides. The animals bore into stone or coral rock with the help of pallial gland secretions,[4] hence the systematic name Lithophaga, which means "stone-eater". Their club-shaped borings are given the trace fossil name Gastrochaenolites.[3]
^Gofas, Serge (2004). "Lithophaga Röding, 1798". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species.
^Ludvigsen, Rolf & Beard, Graham. 1997. West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island. pg. 102
^ abKleemann, K.H., 1994. Mytilid bivalve Lithophaga in Upper Triassic coral Pamiroseris from Zlambach Beds compared with Cretaceous Lithophaga alpina. Facies 30, 151–154.
^"integument (mollusks)."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD
Lithophagalithophaga, also known as date shell or date mussel, is a species of Bivalvia belonging to the family Mytilidae. Fossils of Lithophaga lithophaga...
Temple of Serapis. A band of borings or Gastrochaenolites left by marine Lithophaga bivalve molluscs on three standing marble columns indicated that these...
Lithophaga simplex is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is a boring species, tunnelling into living coral colonies. It can be found...
galloprovincialis) and the tellina (Donax trunculus). Though dattero di mare (Lithophagalithophaga) was once eaten, overfishing drove it to the verge of extinction...
marble columns show bands of boreholes or Gastrochaenolites left by marine Lithophaga molluscs. These occur up to 7 metres up the columns, showing how bradyseism...
Lithophaga truncata is a date mussel, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. Miller M & Batt G, Reef and Beach Life of New Zealand, William...
Lithophaga antillarum, or the Giant date mussel, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North...
Lithophaga aristata, or the Scissor date mussel, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North...
Lithophaga bisulcata, or the Mahogany date mussel, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of...
Lithophaga nigra, or the Black date mussel, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North...
forbidden by law to sell and eat the sea dates (datteri di mare, Lithophagalithophaga), as their fishing seriously damages coastline rocks, mainly in...
species such as the molluscs Pinna nobilis, Charonia tritonis and Lithophagalithophaga, can be bought in restaurants and fish markets around Greece. The...
majestic columns in Cipollino marble, which show erosion from marine Lithophaga molluscs when, at an earlier time, the ground level was much lower due...
Gastrochaenolites is most commonly attributed to bioeroding bivalves such as Lithophaga and Gastrochaena (Kleeman, 1980). The fossil ranges from the Ordovician...
cassida, L. corneocostata, L. gibba and L. lamellosa Bivalves: Lithophagalithophaga, Pinna nobilis, Margaritifera auricularia and Unio crassus Centrostephanus...
increased tissue growth in the coral in the immediate vicinity. The bivalve Lithophaga simplex also bores into the coral, often in dense populations. This may...
acutefinitus M. avirostrum M. hasta M. minutus M. peregrinus M. sulmensis Lithophaga buchhornensis L. lennachensis L. producta L. vermiculata Mactromya altera...
of the coral being weakened by the boring activities of date mussels (Lithophaga spp.) or the feeding activities of fish such as the stone triggerfish...
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