Although the term veliger is often used popularly to refer to all planktonic (i.e., floating in water column) stages in the life cycle, strictly speaking this term does not include the trochophore stage, but rather refers only to the stages that possess a velum, i.e., the straight-hinged stage (
Veliger densities typically peak in midsummer in North America, with lower densities present in spring and autumn.
The larvae are then referred to as D-shaped or straight-hinged veligers, since the body side where the hinge is forming is straight while the open valve side is rounded.
After these stages, the larva is called a veliger, because it has a velum (literally, a "curtain"), a large sail-shaped organ that extends from the small larval shell.
Larval stages include the straight-hinge veliger (i), the umbonate veliger (j), and the pediveliger (k).
The straight-hinge veliger (also known as the "D-hinge" veliger) is given its name from the shape of the larval shell.
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