Biodiversity & Conservation

Common cockle - Cerastoderma edule - General information

Cerastoderma edule

Image Keith Hiscock - The common cockle Cerastoderma edule on mud surface. Image width ca 8 cm.
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Distribution map

Cerastoderma edule recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Cerastoderma edule is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters Text page icon Refereed by: This information is not refereed.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Bivalvia Clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, and scallops
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Widely distributed in estuaries and sandy bays around the coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Inhabits the surface of sediments, burrowing to a depth of no more than 5 cm. Found on clean sand, muddy sand, mud or muddy gravel from the middle to lower intertidal, sometimes subtidally. Usually live at salinities between 15 -35 psu but can tolerate salinities as low as 10 psu. Often abundant in estuaries and sheltered bays, and population densities of 10,000 per m² have been recorded.
Text page icon Description The familiar edible cockle. The shell is solid, thick, equivalve, globular and broadly oval in outline; up to 5 cm long but usually less. Shell with 22-28 radiating ribs, crossed by conspicuous concentric ridges and may bear short, flat spines. Outer surface off-white, yellowish or brownish. Growth lines are prominent. Inner surface dull white, with a brownish or light purple stain on or about the posterior adductor muscle scar. The pallial line lacks a sinus. Both valves bear two cardinal teeth. In addition the right bear two anterior and two posterior lateral teeth while the left valve bears a single anterior and posterior lateral. Shallow grooves on the inner surface run from the notched margin, fading before reaching the pallial line.

This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2007. Cerastoderma edule. Common cockle. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=2924>