Magellania venosa Seashell Tropical Brachiopod Lamp Shell

Magellania venosa mm 17-20 Seashell Tropical Brachiopod Lamp Shell, both valves.
Taken in Feb. 2009 on scallops at 15-20 mt. Depth by local diver.
Currently, it is the largest living brachiopod species in existence.
Family: Terebratellidae.
Syn. Anomia venosa, Magasella laevis, Terebratula dilata, Terebratula fontanea, Terebratula malvinae, Terebratula pulvinata.

It should be noted for all bivalves that the two valves may have been glued or remained closed due to the dried ligament and therefore the item appears as a single piece. Therefore, we are not responsible for any damage caused to the shell to try to badly separate the pieces.

The phylum of brachiopods consists of marine invertebrates, benthic, sessil, sospensivorous and with bilateral symmetry. The plane of symmetry is perpendicular to the commissure of the valves, which are divided into a peduncular valve (or ventral) and a brachial (or dorsal), generally smaller. They are inequivalves and equilateral.
They look, similar to the phylum of bivalve molluscs, is simply due to convergent evolution, having no direct relationship with them.
Nowadays these animals are scarce because they live in "refuge areas", ie areas with low population and competition. They were however very common in the Paleozoic, then, following the mass extinction at the Permian-Triassic, have migrated into deeper waters.