Outside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected from Cyprus. Length = 36mm.
Modiolus barbatus
<em>Modiolus barbatus</em> (Linnaeus, 1758)
Outside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by TGW Fowler from Weymouth, Dorset. Length = 35mm.
Inside of right valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by TGW Fowler from Weymouth, Dorset. Length = 48mm.
Outside of right valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by TGW Fowler from Weymouth, Dorset. Length = 48mm.
Inside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by TGW Fowler from Weymouth, Dorset. Length = 48mm.
Outside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by TGW Fowler from Weymouth, Dorset. Length = 48mm.
Modiolus barbatus
Distribution and status
CommonDistributed from the south and west of Britain south to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.
Ecology and behaviour
Lives in a byssal net under rocks or in crevices (included within Laminaria holdfasts) where it filter feeds.
Key identification features
- Red shell with beaks a short distance from the end of the shell
- 'Hairs' on the periostracum are serrated
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000176497]
Sort order
9300
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
Brittle shell up to 6cm in length. Red in colour but this is mainly obscured by the yellow or brown periostracum. Inside of the shell is pale blue. The surface is sculptured with fine concentric lines and ridges.