Spiny oysters

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Spiny oysters
Spondylus varius

Spondylus varius

Systematics
Subclass : Autolamellibranchiata
Subclass : Pteriomorphia
Order : Pectinida
Superfamily : Pectinoidea
Family : Spondylidae
Genre : Spiny oysters
Scientific name of the  family
Spondylidae
JE Gray , 1826
Scientific name of the  genus
Spondyle
Linnaeus , 1758

The prickly oysters , also known as clams ( spondylus ), are a type of mussel that is widespread in warmer seas around the world . They form the only genus of the Spondylidae family that belongs to the order of the Pectinida . The oldest fossil forms of these shells are known from the Jura .

features

Fossil prickly oyster in front view

The case is very unevenly hinged. The left domed flap is cemented to a solid substrate. Above all, the upper right flap is usually heavily ornamented with spike-shaped projections (hence the name), more rarely only with strong ribs. The inner shell layer is aragonitic , the outer shell layer calcitic . In many species, the outside is also provided with strong colors. The lock has two teeth of roughly the same size on both flaps, which grip into pits in the other flap (isodontic lock). On the one hand, this ensures a firm connection, but on the other hand, the flaps can also move easily relative to one another. The "ears" of the valves are unequal in size. There is only one large sphincter, unlike most other clams that have two sphincters. This property is known as monomyar . Like the related scallops, prickly oysters have numerous eyes at the edge of their mantle and have a correspondingly developed nervous system with a concentration of ganglia in the visceral area.

Way of life, occurrence and distribution

The species of the genus Spondylus occur worldwide in the temperate and warmer areas. They live firmly cemented on hard substrates and filter microorganisms and detritus from the water. In Europe, the genus is represented in the Black Sea , Mediterranean and the adjacent Atlantic by the Lazarus rattle ( Spondylus gaederopus ).

use

During the Neolithic in South and Southeast Europe, the Lazarus clapper housings were made into pieces of jewelry and clothing components and traded over great distances, as archaeological finds from Austria show, where pearls from spiny oysters were also found. Most of the housing probably came from the Black Sea.

In South America , housings of other types of spondylus, such as the tropical spondylus pictorum (called in Quechua mullu ), were used in the Nazca cultures , Moche , Chimú and Inca to make jewelry and probably also served ritual purposes. Around the turn of the millennium, the archaeologist Markus Reindel interpreted the mussel as a "rainmaker mussel" during field research in Nazca (Peru), as it is so far in connection with the El Niño weather phenomenon , which also gives rain to regions further south at intervals of several years occurs south. The shells were also made into necklaces, etc.; These were used as grave goods , but their fertility and life-giving significance was retained. Because of its slightly reddish color and its high symbolic value, the prickly oyster is also called oro rojo ("red gold") in Latin America .

The species of the genus Spondylus are eaten as a delicacy in many areas. In addition, the processing into pieces of jewelery and the sale of the bowls to tourists still take place today.

Systematics

The Spondylidae family currently only contains the eponymous genus Spondylus , which some authors divide into two or three subgenus. Most authors do not use this subdivision. The number of species within the genus Spondylus is also controversial and varies between 30 and 70 species depending on the author.

Spondylus regius

Types (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ V. Slavchev: Fragmentation research and the Varna Eneolithic Cemetery Spondylus rings. Proceedings of the Varna Round Table, Varna, 2004
  2. ↑ Austrian Federal Monuments Office: 7000 year old settlements and graves in Tullnerfeld and Traisental (German)
  3. ^ Allison C. Paulsen, The Thorny Oyster and the Voice of God: Spondylus and Strombus in Andean Prehistory. American Antiquity 39/4, 1974, 598. JSTOR 278907598
  4. ↑ Hans Groth: Regenmacher Muschel. “ In: Bild der Wissenschaft 2001
  5. ↑ Poppe & Goto, p. 72

literature

  • R. Tucker Abbott and S. Peter Dance: Compendium of Seashells. Odyssey Publishing, El Cajon, California ISBN 0-9661720-0-0
  • Guido Poppe and Yoshihiro Goto: European Seashells Volume 2 (Scaphopoda, Bivalvia, Cephalopoda) . 221 pp., Verlag Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden 1993 (2000 unc. Reprint) ISBN 3-925919-10-4
  • LR Cox et al .: Treatise on invertebrate paleontology Pt. N: Mollusca 6. Bivalvia (1 of 3). Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America & University of Kansas Press 1969.
  • Christoph Willms: Neolithic Spondylus Jewelry. 100 Years of Research Germania 63 1985 pp. 331–343

Web links

Commons : Spondylus  - collection of images, videos and audio files