99/150: Lampshells – Watt do you mean it’s not a mussel?

Animalia: Brachiopoda: Rhynchonellata: Terebratulida: Terebratellidae: Terebrataliinae: Terebratalia: Terebratalia transversa (Sowerby, 1846)

Lampshells, including Terebratalia transversa, belong to the phylum Brachiopoda, which translates to arm-foot in Greek. Brachiopods have been around for millions of years, dominating the oceans in the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), but now have a smaller distribution and are known as living fossils as some species have survived for millions of years unchanged.

What defines this phylum is the pedicle, a foot like appendage that they use to attach themselves to substrates. They look similar to mussels; however mussels use byssal threads for attachment. Mussels and lampshells are a great example of convergent evolution, where different organisms independently evolve similar traits. Lampshells are filter feeders and are found in the oceans in intertidal zones and deeper. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

Here’s the barcode sequence information for this species:

Process ID: OPQCS124-10

nucleotide sequence

–TACTTTATATTTTTTATTTGGGGCTTGGGCTGGGTTTGTGGGTTTAGCTCTTAGTCTTTTGATTCGGGCCGAGTTGGGGCAAACTGGGAGAATGTTAGGAAATGATCAGCTGTACAATGTAATTGTTACAGCTCATGCGTTAGTTATAATTTTTTTTTTGGTTATGCCGGTTATAATTGGCGGGTTTGGTAATTGGTTGATTCCTTTAATAGTAGGGTCTCCGGATATGGCGTACCCCCGTATGAATAACATAAGGTTTTGGTTGTTGCCTCCGTCTCTTTTACTTTTGCTTTCGTCTGCGGCTATGGAGGCTGGGGCCGGCACTGGGTGGACTGTTTATCCCCCCCTATCAGGGGGGGGTTCTCATAGGGGCCCGGCTGTGGATTTGGCTATTTTTTCTTTGCATTTGGCTGGTGCGTCTTCTATTTTAGGGGCTATTAATTTTATCGGGTCGGTTGCTAATATGAAGGCTGGGGGCATGAAGATGGAGCAAGTTCCGTTATTCGTGTGGTCGGTTTTAATTACTGTAGTTTTGTTGTTATTATCTCTTCCTGTTTTAGCGGGGGCCATTACAATGCTGCTGATAGACCGGAACTTTAGCACTTCGTTTTTTGACCCTGCGGGGGGTGGGGATCCGGTTCTTTTTCAACACTTAT–

amino acid sequence

TLYFLFGAWAGFVGLALSLLIRAELGQTGSMLGNDQLYNVIVTAHALVMIFFLVMPVMIGGFGNWLIPLMVGSPDMAYPRMNNMSFWLLPPSLLLLLSSAAMEAGAGTGWTVYPPLSGGGSHSGPAVDLAIFSLHLAGASSILGAINFIGSVANMKAGGMKMEQVPLFVWSVLITVVLLLLSLPVLAGAITMLLMDRNFSTSFFDPAGGGDPVLFQHLX

Learn more about it’s BIN (Barcode Index Number): BOLD:AAI0830

Title Image: Specimen BB2010-001 – Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada – 9-Jun-2010
Photo Credit: Alexandra Knapp, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics