Chione (bivalve)

Chione is a genus of tropical marine bivalve molluscs, in the family Veneridae, which arose in the early Miocene in the tropical Western Atlantic region. This was discovered through species-level phylogenetic reconstruction. Many branches of the Chione genus spread to tropical eastern Pacific regions, where it is most diverse today. The occurrence of the Pliocene extinction affected the Atlantic genera more than the Pacific genera, leading to the increased diversity of Chione in the Pacific compared to the Atlantic.

Predators of many Chione species include Naticid gastropods (moon snails), which drill holes into the shells of Chione to consume their soft tissues. Chione themselves are primarily filter feeders.