Up to 15mm long, 14mm high, 10mm wide, solid, plump, almost equilateral. 22-27 radial ribs, flattened with narrow pitted grooves between. Ribs carry fairly wide-set globular tubercles (not spines). Growth lines present in larger specimens. Periostracum seldom present, pale buff, wrinkled over the tubercles. Teeth variable, the posterior laterals in the left valve frequently lacking. Inside, the ribs appear as fluting at the ventral margin, seldom extending more than 1/5 of the way into the shell. Shell white, pink or yellow-fawn with apricot-russet concentric bands and blotches, Animal off-white. (N.B. Juvenule Acanthocardia spinosa are very similar but have a regular zigzag profile of the ribs and even in worn specimens a trace of the acanthocardiid enrolling of the spines may be seen).
- Ribs have fairly wide-set globular tubercles (not spines)
- The grooves between the ribs have slits or notches
Living in sand and shell gravel, 4-200m.
RareA southern species, extending from the south side of the English Channel along Atlantic coasts to Angola, also Mediterranean.