Talonostrea X.-X. Li & Z.-Y. Qi, 1994

Al-Kandari, Manal, Oliver, P. Graham & Salvi, Daniele, 2021, Molecular and morphological systematics of a new, reef forming, cupped oyster from the northern Arabian Gulf: Talonostrea salpinx new species, ZooKeys 1043, pp. 1-20 : 1

Talonostrea X.-X. Li & Z.-Y. Qi, 1994

Type species.

Talonostrea talonata X.-X. Li & Z.-Y. Qi, 1994

Nominal species included.

Crassostrea zhanjiangensis X.-Y. Wu, S. Xiao & Z. Yu, 2013

Definition.

The genus Talonostrea was first defined on morphological characters alone and was then monotypic, the type species T. talonata being described simultaneously by Li and Qi (1994). The oyster took the common name of the ‘cat’s paw oyster’ referring to the folded and broadly digitate margin of the upper valve. This contrasts with T. zhanjiangensis and T. salpinx (described below), where the upper valve is flat with or without narrow fluted extensions. Talonostrea salpinx has the unique feature of possessing trumpet-shaped marginal projections. The shell, therefore, offers few if any defining characters. The anatomical character of a separated style sac observed in T. talonata has not been confirmed in T. zhanjiangensis and at this time, we cannot be sure if this character is an apomorphy of T. talonata or a synapomorphy of the genus as a whole. The anatomical arrangement in T. salpinx (see below) agrees with that of T. talonata as illustrated in Cavaleiro et al. (2019) and therefore does suggest that this is a defining feature of Talonostrea . As the anatomy of T. zhanjiangensis has not been described, the genus Talonostrea is confirmed on molecular data alone ( Salvi and Mariottini 2017) but it is possible that the separate style sac/mid gut character will prove to be a synapomorphy of the genus.