Hinge line
Videos
A hinge line is an imaginary longitudinal line along the dorsal edge of the shell of a bivalve mollusk where the two valves hinge or articulate. The hinge line can easily be perceived in these images
The hinge of a blue mussel, Mytilidae
Part of the hinge line of one valve of an ark shell, Arcidae
Bivalve shell
Videos
A bivalve shell is the enveloping exoskeleton or shell of a bivalve mollusc, composed of two hinged halves or valves. The two half-shells, called the "right valve" and "left valve", are joined by a li
Two whole shells, one closed and one open, of the marine bivalve Abra alba
Live marine venerid cockles, Austrovenus stutchburyi from New Zealand
Paired valves of a fossil Spondylus shell (a "thorny oyster") showing the isodont, monomyarian, inequivalved condition, from the Pliocene deposits of Cyprus
The lower right portion of this image shows a Venerupis senegalensis with a distinct pallial sinus on the viewer's right side/ animal's right valve which points towards the animal's posterior