Pteria penguin, (Röding, 1798)
Pteria penguin, commonly known as the penguin's wing oyster, penguin wing oyster, and penguin's wing , is a species of marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. It is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific region and is used for the production of cultured pearls. The generic name comes from Greek πτερον (pteron) meaning wing.
Pteria penguin can reach a common shell length of about 20 cm (7.9 in), with a maximum length of 30 cm (12 in). The shells of this rather large species are solid and ovate. The posterior ear develops a narrow, elongated, wing-like expansion. The left valve is more inflated than the right one. The outside color of the shell ranges from dark brown to black, while the interior is nacreous silvery, a wide non-nacreous glossy black margin
Pteria penguin is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from the East African coast and the Red Sea to India, southern China, southern Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and northern Australia. It is found attached by its byssal threads to a number of different substrates, rocks and corals (especially to Gorgonacea), at intertidal depths of less than 35 m (115 ft).
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