aureleah_aurita's Identifications

Found laying in grass on Pivers Island, possibly dropped by a bird?

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Order Venerida
Family Veneridae
Genus Mercenaria

ID'd by relatively large size, thick and heavy shelll, heart shaped side profile of shell

Fun Fact: Grown rates depend on water temperature. The warmer the water, the slower the growth.

1) Genus Aurelia
2) Phylum: Cnidaria, Class: Schyphozoa, Order: Semaeostomeae
3) the four gonads in the center of the jelly are key morphological features of this genus
4) it is almost impossible to tell specific moon jelly species apart without genetic testing

Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Venerida

Morphology

Thick shell with lateral ridges, roughly 2 inches across. On the other side there were visible scars from the anterior and posterior adductor muscles, and the hinge is visible. Bilateral symmetry

Fun Fact This animal filters plankton from seawater and collects it’s food in a mucus string.