Frenulina

Frenulina Temporal range: recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Frenulina sanguinolenta, internal view, 11mm wide
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Brachiopoda
Class:	Rhynchonellata
Order:	Terebratulida
Family:	Frenulinidae
Genus:	Frenulina Dall, 1894
species
F. sanguinolenta (Gmelin, 1790) type = Anomia sanguinolenta, Megerlia sanguinea F. cruenta Cooper, 1973 F. mauiensis Dall, 1920

Frenulina is a extant genus of brachiopod, 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 seldomly entirely white. It lives attached by a stalk to a hard underground.^[1]

Species and distribution

• 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]

• 

  Frenulina sanguinolenta, pedical valve, 11mm

• 

  brachial valve

• 

  lateral view

References

1. Bittner, Maria A. (2007). "Shallow water brachiopod species in New Caledonia". In Payri, Claude; Richer de Forges, Bertrand. Compendium of Marine Species from New Caledonia. Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement - Centre Noumea. p. 171.
2. Bittner, Maria A. (2010). "Biodiversity of shallow-water brachiopods from New Caledonia, SW Pacific, with description of a new species". Sciencia Marina. 4 (74): 649.
3. Voskuil, Ron (1998). "On a small collection of Hawaiian Brachiopoda (Lophophorata)" (PDF). internet hawaii shell news.