Bivalves · Adapedonta · Pharidae

Pod Razor Shell

Ensis siliqua

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

A razor clam with a long, straight, fragile shell, which lives buried upright in the clean sands of beaches and shallows. It filters phytoplankton through short siphons and, at any vibration, sinks at speed using its muscular foot as a hydraulic anchor. It is a highly prized shellfish in Galicia and Portugal.

Size

12 cm – 20 cm

Lifespan

15 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

OceanOmnivore Colonial Ocean Mollusc

21countries 21parks 33dive sites

Fun facts

The traditional way of gathering them is to pour salt into the hole in the sand: the sudden change in salinity brings the razor clam to the surface.
It can dig faster than an adult can dig with their hands.
It is an extraordinary digger: it sinks into the sand faster than a human can dig, alternating expansion of the foot with jets of water that fluidise the sediment around it.
That mechanism has been studied in engineering to design anchors that bury themselves.
Traditional shellfishing exploits its sensitivity to salt: put salt down the hole and the razor clam comes to the surface.
In the Ebro delta its catches have risen 3.6-fold since 2016, while those of clam and cockle fell.