Cryptomya (Venatomya) Iredale, 1930

Zhang, Jun-Long, Xu, Feng-Shan & Liu, Rui-Yu, 2012, The Myidae (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from Chinese waters with description of a new species, Zootaxa 3383, pp. 39-60 : 46

Subgenus Cryptomya (Venatomya) Iredale, 1930

Venatomya Iredale, 1930: 403 .

Diagnosis. Hinge with a small tooth-like process in front of resilifer in right valve; pallial sinus variable in size. Type species. Sphenia elliptica A. Adams, 1851 (by original designation).

Remarks. Iredale (1930) erected the genus Venatomya for the Australian Sphenia elliptica A. Adams, 1851 , arguing that Hedley’s association with Cryptomya Conrad, 1848 , was dubious because “ Cryptomya had been introduced by Conrad for an American shell, not much like ours, which has been well figured by Hedley, …” (p. 403) (cf. Hedley 1913: 275–276, pl. 17, figs. 40–44). Keen (1969) and Lamprell & Stanisic (1998) recognized Venatomya as a valid subgenus characterized by a small tooth-like process in front of the chondrophore in the right valve; the variably sized pallial sinus of Venatomya can obviously not be used to discriminate it from Cryptomya .