Taxon classification Animalia Veneroida Thyasiridae

Genus Ochetoctena gen. nov.

Type species: Ochetoctena tomasi sp. nov. this paper. Monotypic.

Definition.

Equivalve, Equilateral. Outline subcircular, lunule margin depressed, posterior margin with a single weak sinus. Posterior sulcus shallow but prominent. auricle absent. Escutcheon narrow, shallow. Ligament deeply sunken. Hinge edentulous. External sculpture of commarginal lines and growth stops, overall with microscopic conical, calcareous spines these randomly distributed with some linked by low ridges. Ctenidia of two demibranchs, filaments tubular, "Type 5T".

Etymology.

Ochetoctena, meaning tube-gilled from ochetos Greek "a water pipe or conduit" and ktenos Greek, "a comb" and the root for ctenidium (Brown 1956).

Distribution.

Known only from the Regab pockmark off west Africa.