The valves are also in some species very unequal in their respective thickness, as may be seen in Productus (Daviesiella) 1 llangollensis, Davidsonia verneuilii, &c., and while the space allotted to the animal is very great in many species, as in Terebratula sphaeroidalis, it is very small in others belonging to Stro phomena, Leptaena, Chonetes, &c. The ventral valve is usually the thickest, and in some forms is six or seven times as great as the opposite one.
The ventral valve is usually the larger, and in many genera, such as Terebratula and Rhynchonella, has a prominent beak or umbo, with a circular or otherwise shaped foramen at or near its extremity, partly bounded by one or two plates, termed a deltidium.
Terebratula, that type of opening is found in the young stages only; later a it becomes partly closed by two plates which grow out from the sides of the delthyrium.
The two plates may meet in the middle line, and leave only a small oval opening near the centre for the pedicle, as in Rhynchonella; or they may meet only near the base of the delthyrium forming the lower boundary of the circular pedicle-opening, as in Terebratula; or the right plate may remain quite distinct from the left plate, as in Terebratella.