Bivalvia is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs known for some time as Pelecypoda, but now commonly referred to simply as bivalves. As with Gastropoda and Cephalopoda, the term Pelecypoda is in reference to the animal itself while Bivalvia simply describes the shell. Other names for the class include Acephala, Bivalva, and Lamellibranchia. The total number of bivalves currently amounts to 9,200 species in 1,260 genera and 106 families. The global marine bivalves contain about 8,000 species, combined in 4 subclasses and 99 families with 1,100 genera...