(Lamarck, 1818)
Description (shell):
Shell thin, elongate-oval, umbones posterior to midline. Anterior hinge line sloping very gently, posterior more steeply. Sculpture of numerous fine, concentric lines, and finer radiating striae; growth stages clear, often marked by colour bands. Right valve with two, indistinctly bifid, cardinal teeth, anterior larger than posterior; left valve with broad, bifid anterior and thin, indistinct posterior cardinals. Adductor scars and pallial lines distinct, cruciform scars unclear; pallial sinus broad and deep, lower border largely fused with pallial line.
Size:
Up to 25 mm long.
Colour:
Colour variable: yellowish white, orange, pink, chestnut, or dull red, often in contrasting bands, frequently with rays of red or chestnut. Inner surfaces glossy; white, yellow, orange, or reddish brown (G. tellinella-drawing).
Animal:
Burrows with the large foot usually extended as well as the long and sepatate siphons. The animal is white, its mantle with tooth-like fringe, and the upper (excurrent) siphon is marked by fine lines of white (G. tellinella-animal).
Habitat:
In coarse sand and gravel, offshore to about 60 m.
Distribution:
Distributed from southern Iceland to the Mediterranean (Distr. G. tellinella).