Sculpture on valve surface
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by Jan Light from Swanage Bay, Dorset. Length = 17mm.
Timoclea ovata
<em>Timoclea ovata</em> (Pennant, 1777)
Inside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by Jan Light from Swanage Bay, Dorset. Length = 14mm.
Inside of right valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by Jan Light from Swanage Bay, Dorset. Length = 14mm.
Outside of left valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by Jan Light from Swanage Bay, Dorset. Length = 17mm.
Outside of right valve
Species
Photographer / copyright holder
Steve Wilkinson
Specimen collected by Jan Light from Swanage Bay, Dorset. Length = 17mm.
Timoclea ovata
Distribution and status
Widely distributed. Common.Recorded from the North of Norway to Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Ecology and behaviour
Shallow burrower in sand, muddy sand and gravel. Feeds by filtering phytoplankton from the water.
Key identification features
- Shell has up to fifty radiating ribs which combine with concentric ridges to give a knobly appearance
- Inner margin crenulate
Taxon version key
[NBNSYS0000178397]
Sort order
10960
Taxonomic group
Marine bivalve
Solid shell up to 2cm in length. Broadly oval in outline. Dirty white, light yellow or fawn in colour. Sculpture of up to 50 radiating ribs raised into small tubercles by concentric ridges. Periostracum fibrous and slight.