#panopea

Named after Panopeia (or Panope), one of dozens of marine nymphs in Greek mythology. There's dozens of extinct species in the genus, too, a fair number of them discovered in New Zealand. This particular one was described by British-New Zealand geologist and zoologist Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton in 1873, and a little surprisingly named after a different Worthington than the one honoured in Cucullea worthingtoni - that fossil had been collected by William J. Worthington, and this one by Herbert S. Worthington.

The genus is still around, though - famously as the Pacific Geoduck Panopea generosa found from Alaska to Baja. That species is the largest and longest-living burrowing clam known - the siphon can be a meter long and the clam live for almost 180 years. Geoduck (Gooeyduck) is derived from the Lushootseed name for the animal, and depending which source you consult may mean 'dig deep', or refer to a certain part of the male anatomy.

The Pacific Geoduck (and the New Zealand Geoduck Panopea zelandica) are prized in the Chinese market, where the flesh of the siphon is considered an aphrodisiac. Can't imagine why.