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      • Issue 1
        • Collecting East African marine snails
        • Field meeting to Box Hill
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        • Collecting localities in the Cape Province
        • Field meeting Walton-on-Naze
        • Herons, Moorhens and Rats feeding on Anodonta anatina
        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 1) Species and subspecies
        • Volutes
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        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 2) The significance of types
        • Land and freshwater snails: additions to the British List since 1926
        • Littoral collecting in the Scilly Isles
        • Snails in a Sussex garden
      • Issue 4
        • Biographical Note
        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 3) The genus
        • Learning in Nucella lapillus
        • Mollusca on Liverpool bomb sites
        • The Cardiacea
        • The Strombidae
      • Issue 5
        • A suggested method for extracting the animals from small high-spired shells
        • Commensual crabs in Mytilus edulis
        • Field meeting at Shell Bay, Dorset
        • Field meeting at West Runton and Overstrand
        • Introduction to molluscan taxonomy 4) Taxonomic history
        • J.G. Bruguiere 1750-98
      • Issue 6
        • A little more biography
        • Field meeting at Amberley
        • Field meeting to Grasswood, Yorkshire May 1962
        • Marine collecting in New Zealand
        • Marine mollusca of Carnac, Brittany
        • On the use and misuse of common names
        • Strand shells after Cornish gales
        • Trochus magus in the Isle of Wight
      • Issue 7
        • 35 years collecting
        • Field meeting Epping Forest
        • Field meeting White Downs
        • More strand shells after Cornish gales
        • Natural History Museum at Craster
        • Notes on the pholadidae
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        • Geology for conchologists - Introduction
        • Geology for conchologists - The last 15,000 years
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        • David Landsborough
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        • The Viviparidae
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Gari costulata

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:15
Distribution and status

Not common

North Sea to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in muddy or fine sand

Similar species
  • Gari tellinella
Key identification features
  • No lateral teeth
  • About 20 ribs radiating from the umbones to the back of the shell
  • Slightly gaping at each end
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175424]
Sort order
10750
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Gari costulata

Brittle shell up to about 2.5cm in length. Colour white or pink often with patches/rays of purple or red. Inside similarly coloured. Sculpture of fine concentric ridges and up to about 20 sharp ridges running towards the hind margin.

Fabulina fabula

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Common

Norway down to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in clean sand or muddy sand where it feeds on organic detritus picked up through the siphon.

Similar species
  • Angulus tenuis does not have the diagonal striations on right valve
  • Angulus squalidus has a more solid shell and distinct ridge running to the posterior of shell
Key identification features
  • Diagonal striations on right valve
  • Fragile shell
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175321]
Sort order
10610
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Fabulina fabula

Fragile shell up to about 2cm in length. Glossy white, yellow or orange in colour. Sculpture of concentric rings with diagonal striations on the right valve. Relatively deep pallial sinus which is confluent with the pallial line. Cruciform muscle scars indistinct.

Epilepton clarkiae

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Key identification features
  • Dentition?
  • Surface sculptured with numerous concentric lines and a few radiating lines
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175163]
Sort order
10110
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Epilepton clarkiae

Fragile shell up to 1mm? in length. It is coloured yellow to white both inside an out. The surface of the shell is sculptured with concentric and radiating lines.

Ensis siliqua

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Recorded from the Norwegian Sea and Baltic, south to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in fine or silty sand. Remains close to the surface while submerged in water, retreating to a depth of up to half a metre when exposed.

Similar species
  • Ensis minor has ventral scar much closer to edge than anterior scar
Key identification features
  • Dorsal and ventral edges of the shell straight
  • Distance of anterior scar from shell edge roughly equal to that for the ventral scar
  • Posterior gape oval
  • Anterior edge truncated
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175136]
Sort order
10530
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Ensis siliqua
  • Log in or register to post comments

Elngate shell up to about 21cm in length. Both dosal and ventral edges of the shell are straight. White or creamy white in colour with red-brown streaks streaks. Periostracum dark green to yellow-green. Shell sculptured with smooth horizontal and vertical lines with clear growth lines.

Ensis ensis

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Recorded from the Norwegian Sea and Baltic to the Iberian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean.

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in fine or silty sand. Remains close to the surface while submerged in water, retreating to a depth of up to half a metre when exposed.

Similar species
  • Ensis siliqua is almost straight in comparison
  • Ensis arcuatus is almost straight in comparison
Key identification features
  • Both edges of the shell curved to the same extent
  • Relatively slender shell
  • Posterior adductor about 1.5 times its own length from pallial sinus
  • Foot retractor muscle posterior to ligament insertion
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175135]
Sort order
10510
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Ensis ensis
  • Log in or register to post comments

Slender shell up to about 10cm in length. Edges curved and parallel, tapering towards the posterior end. Creamy white in colour with red-brown streaks streaks. Periostracum dark green to yellow-green. Shell sculptured with very fine horizontal and vertical lines with clear growth lines. Foot is reddish in colour.

Ensis arcuatus

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in fine or silty sand. Remains close to the surface while submerged in water, retreating to a depth of up to half a metre when exposed.

Similar species
  • Ensis americanus has a reversed S-shpaed pallial sinus and a wider shell
Key identification features
  • Pallial sinus U-shaped
  • Length : breadth ratio of 8:1
  • Posterior adductor scar clearly separated from pallial sinus
  • Foot retractor scar posterior to ligament insertion
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175132]
Sort order
10500
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Ensis arcuatus

Slightly curved shell up to about 15cm in length. White or creamy white in colour with red-brown or orange streaks/blotches. Periostracum dark green to yellow-green.

Ensis americanus

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Non-native

Ecology and behaviour

Burrows in fine or silty sand. Remains close to the surface while submerged in water, retreating to a depth of up to half a metre when exposed.

Similar species
  • Ensis arcuatus has a narrower shell and U-shaped pallial sinus
Key identification features
  • Pallial sinus reversed S-shape pointing to posterior adductor scar
  • Relatively broad shell (length : breadth ratio of 6:1)
  • Posterior adductor scar very close or joined to pallial sinus
  • Foot retractor scar opposite ligament insertion
References and links

World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS)
Accepted name for this species is now (AphiaID: 876640):

Ensis leei M. Huber, 2015

Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175131]
Sort order
10490
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
  • Read more about Ensis americanus

Slightly curved shell up to about 15cm in length. Greyish violet in colour with olive green periostracum. Shell sculptured with smooth horizontal and vertical lines with clear growth lines.

Emarginula rosea

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Common

Occurs from the British Isles south to the Mediterranean.

Ecology and behaviour

Lives in the interstitial spaces of gravel bottoms.

Similar species
  • Emarginula crassa has a much finer reticulated sculpture on shell surface
  • Emarginula fissura has apex close to the centre of the shell
Key identification features
  • Apex is almost above the posterior edge of the shell
  • Apex is below the highest point of the shell
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175109]
Sort order
580
Taxonomic group
Marine snail
  • Read more about Emarginula rosea

Conical shell up to 6mm in length (4mm in height) with a slit in the anterior margin. The shell is white often with a pinkish tinge. The surface is sculptured with a coarse reticulate pattern with 35-40 radiating ridges.

Emarginula fissura

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Frequent

Found on all Atlantic coasts.

Ecology and behaviour

Lives on the underside of rocks which harbour growths of sponge on which it feeds. An exhalent siphon is projected through the slit.

Similar species
  • Emarginula crassa has much finer sculpturing of the surface
  • Emarginula rosea has apex further back - close to the posterior edge of the shell
Key identification features
  • Coarse sculpturing of shell surface
  • Apex is close to the centre of the shell
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175107]
Sort order
570
Taxonomic group
Marine snail
  • Read more about Emarginula fissura

Conical shell up to 10mm in length (6mm in height) with slit in the anterior margin. White both inside and out. The surface is sculptured with a coarse reticulate pattern with 25-35 radiating ridges.

Emarginula crassa

Submitted by Steve Wilkinson on Sat, 05/12/2009 22:14
Distribution and status

Frequent?

Occurs from the north of Norway to the south of the British Isles.

Ecology and behaviour

Found under stones.

Similar species
  • Emarginula fissura has much coarser sculpturing of shell surface
  • Emarginula rosea has much coarser sculpturing of shell surface
Key identification features
  • Fine reticulated sculpture with about 50 radiating ridges
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000175106]
Sort order
560
Taxonomic group
Marine snail
  • Read more about Emarginula crassa

Conical shell up to 30mm in length (15mm in height) with a slit in the anterior margin. The shell is white both inside and out. The surface is sculptured with a fine reticulate pattern with about 50 radiating ridges interspersed with finer ones.

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