Biodiversity & Conservation

Dog cockle - Glycymeris glycymeris

Glycymeris glycymeris

Image Jo Trout - Shell of the dog cockle Glycymeris glycymeris. Image width ca 7 cm.
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Distribution map

Glycymeris glycymeris 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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Glycymeris glycymeris is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Bivalvia Clams, cockles, mussels, oysters, and scallops
Authority Linnaeus, 1758
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Found around the Shetland Islands, the Orkneys, the south and west coasts of Britain, Northern Ireland and Blacksod Bay, Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information This species is a shallow burrower in fine shell gravels or sandy/muddy gravels and can be found offshore to approximately 100 m depth.
Text page icon Description The shell is thick, robust, almost circular in shape and up to 6.5 cm. The anterior hinge line curves more abruptly downwards than posterior. The shell is dull brown, yellow, or light purplish-red in colour. Shells can be either uniformly coloured or exhibit irregular concentric zigzags on a cream background. The periostracum is dark brown and remains as a broad band around the margins of the shell, and is course and velvety to the touch. The inside of the shell is usually brown within the pallial line. The inner surface of the shell has 6-12 teeth on either side of the beak.
Identifying features
  • Shell is thick and circular.
  • Uniform or zigzag colouring.
  • Dull brown, yellow or light purplish red in colour.
  • The inner surface of the shell has 6-12 teeth on either side of the beak.
  • Dark brown periostracum around the margin of the shell.
Additional information icon Additional information Analaysis of dredge material revelaed that Glycymeris glycymeris is an important habitat for the hemichordate Rhabdopleura compacta (Stebbing, 1970).

This review can be cited as follows:

Michelle Carter 2008. Glycymeris glycymeris. Dog cockle. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 25/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3393>