Pod Razor Shell

Ensis siliqua

Also called the ‘Common Razor Shell’, the shell is dull white with a yellowish tinted pink or purple colour. It is a large species, long and narrow, and the largest European species of razor shell. Length up to 20mm.

It is found on the lower shore buried in a deep vertical burrow from where it filter-feeds organic detritus via a pair of short siphons. It can live up to 20 years. Common and widespread.

Photographs taken August 2011, Saundersfoot, Wales, and August 2012, Bournemouth.