Corbulinae Lamarck, 1818

Arruda, Eliane P., 2020, Taxonomic revision of the recent marine Corbulidae (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from Brazil, Zootaxa 4851 (1), pp. 1-59 : 13

Subfamily Corbulinae Lamarck, 1818

Diagnosis: Shell strongly inequivalve to subequivalve; with a posterior rostrum more or less conspicuous; free margin of the right valve completely overlaps the free margin of the left; hinge plate heterodont, with a single cardinal tooth in the right valve and a correspondent socket in the left valve; left valve with a dorsal chondrophore which may be very or only slightly projecting.

Remarks: Vokes (1945) describes Corbulinae as having a deep resilial pit for insertion of the resilium, without a chondrophore itself. I agree with Coan (2002) that Corbulinae has a chondrophore and consequently, Caryocorbulinae Vokes, 1945 , is synonymous of Corbulinae . In very thick shells, a resilifer-like pit can be developed on the ventral face of the chondrophore ( Anderson & Roopnarine 2003), giving the impression that there is no shelf-like chondrophore. Based on observations of Corbulidae from Brazil, Panama and Florida ( USA) at different growth stages, it appears that a strong hinge and resilifer-like pit on the ventral face of the chondrophore is not group specific but the product of shell thickening as individuals grow older.

Carter et al. (2011) suggest that Corbulinae is a paraphyletic group and since there are few Corbulidae phylogenetic studies, the composition of the Corbulinae may change in future studies.