Outside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by J. Light from Dredge Station 327 Solent Oyster Survey. 23/6/2003.. Height = 11mm.
Parvicardium exiguum
<em>Parvicardium exiguum</em> (Gmelin, 1791)
Outside of right valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by J. Light from Dredge Station 327 Solent Oyster Survey. 23/6/2003.. Height = 11mm.
Outside of right valve lit to highlight the keel
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by J. Light from Dredge Station 327 Solent Oyster Survey. 23/6/2003.. Height = 11mm.
Parvicardium exiguum
Vernacular names
Little cockle
Distribution and status
Widely distributed. Distributed from Norway south to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean and black Seas.
Ecology and behaviour
Lives primarily in lagoons and inshore, locally common, but found from midshore to 50m. Active climber on vegetation such as Ruppia, Zostera, Chaetomorpha and other algae especially in lagoons whereit swarms and may be associated with juvenile Cerastoderma glaucum with which it may be confused. Occurs on a variety of algae in sheltered waters. Also living burrowed near the surface and lying on the surface of muddy sand, sand and muddy gravel. Tolerant of brackish conditions down to 17 parts per thousand and also tolerant of a wide range of temperature.
Key identification features
- Distinct keel at the 7th or 8th rib from the posterior end
- The ribs are usually decorated with tubercles, especially at the margins
- Surface has 20-24 ribs
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000177020]
Sort order
10280
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
Shell up to 16mm long, 18mm high, 12mm across, plump, rhomboidal, with a distinct keel at the 7th or 8th rib from the posterior end. 20-24 flattened or rounded ribs.