Frenulina is an extant genus of brachiopods, known from shallow waters in the warmer parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its shell is biconvex, rounded pentagonal in profile, and dependent on the species scarlet with creamy white radiating stripes of quickly varying width, beige or seldom entirely white. It lives attached by a stalk to a hard underground.[1]
| Frenulina Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Frenulina sanguinolenta, internal view, 11mm wide | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Brachiopoda |
| Class: | Rhynchonellata |
| Order: | Terebratulida |
| Family: | Frenulinidae |
| Genus: | Frenulina Dall, 1894 |
| Species | |
Species and distribution
edit- Frenulina sanguinolenta has creamy white radiating stripes of quickly varying width on a scarlet shell, or is very rarely entirely white. It is very common in the western Pacific, including Australia, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Philippines, China, Japan and Hawaii, but also occurs in the Indian Ocean.[2]
- F. cruenta is known from the Indian Ocean.
- F. mauiensis occurs in Hawaii.[3]
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Frenulina sanguinolenta, pedicle valve, 11mm -
brachial valve -
lateral view
References
edit- ^ Bittner, Maria A. (2007). "Shallow water brachiopod species in New Caledonia". In Payri, Claude; Richer de Forges, Bertrand (eds.). Compendium of Marine Species from New Caledonia. Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement - Centre Noumea. p. 171.
- ^ Bittner, Maria A. (2010). "Biodiversity of shallow-water brachiopods from New Caledonia, SW Pacific, with description of a new species". Scientia Marina. 4 (74): 649.
- ^ Voskuil, Ron (1998). "On a small collection of Hawaiian Brachiopoda (Lophophorata)" (PDF). internet hawaii shell news.