Astarte

Astarte, a genus of Lamellibranch—i.e. bivalve—Molluscs, the type of a family, Astartidæ, very closely allied to the Veneridæ or Venus family. It is interesting chiefly on account of its history; for while only a few species now exist, and these limited to the northern oceans, the fossil species are extremely numerous (commencing with the Lias period), and are distributed over the whole world. The Astartidæ were apparently to a large extent replaced by the Veneridæ, which commenced with the oolitic period, and are now among the most abundant bivalve molluscs.