(Linné, 1758)
Description (shell):
Shell thin and brittle, elongate-oval, shaped rather like a date; anterior and posterior margins rounded, gaping posteriorly. Sculpture of corrugated concentric ridges and radiating lines, developed as sharp tubercles where they intersect, most pronounced anteriorly. Umbonal reflections prominent anteriorly, closely applied to umbones posteriorly and without septa. An elongate, oval protoplax dorsally (B. candida-drawing). Apophysis slender, extending one-third of distance to ventral margin. Adductor scars and pallial line indistinct, pallial sinus deep, U-shaped.
Size:
Up to 65 mm long.
Colour:
White, periostracum yellowish or light brown. Inner surfaces white.
Animal:
The animal is white, tinged with brown. The siphons are longer and more slender in proportion than in Pholas dactylus , and longitudinally grooved within. Very sensitive creature, which readily takes alarm and retires into the shell.
Habitat:
Bores into wood, peat, and various soft rocks. Lower shore and sublittoral.
Distribution:
Distributed from Norway to the Mediterranean and West Africa (Distr. B. candida).