Chione (bivalve)

Chione is a genus of tropical marine bivalve molluscs, in the family Veneridae, which arose in the early Miocene in the tropical Western Atlantic region. This was discovered through species-level phylogenetic reconstruction. Many branches of the Chione genus spread to tropical eastern Pacific regions, where it is most diverse today. The occurrence of the Pliocene extinction affected the Atlantic genera more than the Pacific genera, leading to the increased diversity of Chione in the Pacific compared to the Atlantic.^[1]

Chione
Chione paphia
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Venerida
Family:	Veneridae
Genus:	Chione von Mühlfeld, 1811
Species
See text

Predators of many Chione species include Naticid gastropods (moon snails), which drill holes into the shells of Chione to consume their soft tissues.^[2] Chione themselves are primarily filter feeders.

Relevance to humans

One particular species of Chione, Chione stutchburyi, has been used as a bio-indicator for lead levels. Decreases in lead inputs into a river led to a fall in lead levels in the soft tissue of this species. This knowledge may be particularly useful in assessing water quality for human consumption.^[3]

Some Chione species have also proved to be useful in paleoclimatology fields. Chione cortezi has been used to model sea surface temperatures of the areas they live in; the shell production rate of this species seems to be heavily controlled by water temperature, so their daily growth rates can be used as a proxy for daily sea surface temperatures. Modeling past climates—including temperature—is very important in scientific fields, so being able to use Chione cortezi as a proxy is very valuable.^[4]

Morphology and ecology

Chione cancellata shell from multiple angles

Chione bivalves have a calcareous shell used mainly for defence against predators and the external environment. They are sedentary creatures who bury themselves in the first five centimeters of sediment.^[3]

Habitat and distribution

Chione species are distributed throughout Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean coastlines. Chione californiensis lives along the Eastern Pacific coastline, ranging from the California to Panama.^[5]

Species

Species accepted as of June 2025:^[6]

• Chione bainbridgensis Dall, 1916 †
• Chione californiensis (Broderip, 1835)
• Chione cancellata (Linnaeus, 1767)
• Chione casinaeformis Yokoyama, 1926 †
• Chione chipolana Dall, 1903 †
• Chione chitaniana Yokoyama, 1926 †
• Chione compta (Broderip, 1835)
• Chione cortinaria (W. B. Rogers & H. D. Rogers, 1837) †
• Chione dijki (K. Martin, 1885) †
• Chione dysera (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Chione elevata (Say, 1822)
• Chione erosa Dall, 1903 †
• Chione guatulcoensis Hertlein & A. M. Strong, 1948
• Chione halli Pritchard, 1895 †
• Chione idiomorpha (O. Boettger, 1883) †
• Chione kroensis (O. Boettger, 1883) †
• Chione laciniosa Weisbord, 1964 †
• Chione laetifica (Yokoyama, 1928) †
• Chione mamoensis Weisbord, 1964 †
• Chione martini H. J. Finlay, 1927 †
• Chione mazyckii Dall, 1902
• Chione minor Nowell-Usticke, 1969
• Chione oulotricha J. A. Gardner, 1936 †
• Chione pailasana Weisbord, 1964 †
• Chione pectiniformis (K. Martin, 1885) †
• Chione rembangensis (Pannekoek, 1936) †
• Chione rodulfi Frassinetti & Covacevich, 1993 †
• Chione seymourensis Dall & Ochsner, 1928 †
• Chione subimbricata (G. B. Sowerby I, 1835)
• Chione tateiwai Makiyama, 1926 †
• Chione tjikoraiensis (van Regteren Altena, 1938) †
• Chione tumens A. E. Verrill, 1870
• Chione undatella (G. B. Sowerby I, 1835)