(Turton, 1822)
Description (shell):
Shell elongate, anterior and posterior margins rounded, shaped rather like a date; umbones close to midline. Sculpture of fine concentric lines and two groups of radiating ridges, one in middle region of shell, the other extending posteriorly from umbones. Growth stages clear. Right valve with two cardinal teeth, posterior larger than anterior, perpendicular to hinge line and curving outwards from beneath umbo; left valve with one identical tooth. Adductor scars and pallial line distinct. Cruciform muscle scars unclear; pallial sinus broad, irregular, extending into anterior half of shell.
Size:
Up to 60 mm long.
Colour:
Dull white, periostracum thin, olive or yellow-brown. Inner surfaces white (S. scopula-drawing).
Animal:
Animal has a large and powerful foot of more or less cylindrical shape.
Habitat:
In sandy or shelly gravel, from the lower shore into the shallow sublittoral.
Distribution:
Distributed south to the Mediterranean and West Africa (Distr. S. scopula).