Thorny oyster (Spondylus varius). This filter feeder is a bivalve mollusc and is part of the clam family. However, like true oysters, this oyster ceme

---

Thorny oyster (Spondylus varius). This filter feeder is a bivalve mollusc and is part of the clam family. However, like true oysters, this oyster cements itself to rocks. The key feature of this oyster is the ball and socket hinge used to hold the two parts of the shell together, rather than the more common toothed hinge. The thorny oyster has numerous eyes around the edges of its shell and it has a well-developed nervous system. Photographed off Maratua Island, in the Sulawesi Sea, Indonesia.

---

Size: 4288px × 2848px
Photo credit: © MATTHEW OLDFIELD/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, aquatic, asia, biological, biology, bivalve, borneo, close-, derawan, detail, fauna, immobile, indonesia, invertebrates, islands, kalimantan, life, maratua, marine, mollusc, mollusca, mollusk, nature, ocean, open, opened, opening, orange, oyster, sea, shell, south-east, southeast, spondylus, sulawesi, thorny, tropical, underwater, varius, water, wildlife, zoological, zoology