Ensis americanus (Binney) (syn. E. directus auct. non Conrad) a recent introduction from Atlantic North-America

The North-American razor-shell Ensis americanus was first recorded in the German Bight in 1979, and has subsequently spread westwards along the Dutch coast and northwards up the coast of Denmark. Unlike the European Ensis species, it lives in brackish, as well as marine, conditions, and its rapid spread may be partly due to filling a niche not previously occupied. Characters used to distinguish it from European species of Ensis are given. This immigrant species, described by previous authors as E. directus, is thought to be more properly named E. americanus (Binney).