A class of Molluscoidea having a symmetrical bivalve shell, often attached by a fleshy peduncle.

Brachiopoda (or “lamp-shells”) are marine invertebrates that live exclusively in shallow, marine-to-brackish (mixed salt and fresh) water. Very abundant during the Paleozoic Era, they do still exist today, but in much smaller numbers. The interior soft parts of brachiopods are not preserved, only the hard valves are preserved as fossils.

marine invertebrates that resemble mollusks