Solid shell up to about 6cm in length. Colour cream or yellow often with rays or streaks of brown or red brown. Inside of shell white, often tinged with pink. Sculpture of flattened ribs but radial lines are absent. Pallial sinus dies not extend to the midpoint of the shell. Lunule not bounded by a clearly marked groove. Inside glossy sometimes with purple, yellow or orange tinge towards the beaks. Each valve has three cardinal teeth; the centre tooth on the left valve and centre and posterior on the right valve bifid.
- Polished shell but not glossy sculptured only with concentric rings; no radiating lines
- Pallial sinus and line almost confluent but a thin gap remains
- Tapes aureus is less oblong (relatively taller) in shape
- Venerupis senegalensis has finer and closer concentric lines and has faint radial lines
Shallow burrower in coarse sand or gravel where it feeds by filtering phytoplankton. Note that the shell shape varies with depth becoming more 'plump' where it lives in shallower areas.
Very common
Recorded from Norway to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.