Pullet Carpet Shell

Appearance

The pullet carpet shell has a pair of hinged, oblong valves that grow to about 5 centimetres in length. The umbone/beak is about one third of the way along the shell. The anterior part of the hinge forms an angle with the posterior part and there are 3 cardinal teeth on each valve.

The shell is sculptured on the outside with fine radial ribs running from the umbone to the margin and with fine concentric striations. The colour is cream, grey or pale brown, sometimes with irregular streaks or rays of darker colour. The inside of the shell is glossy white, sometimes with purple markings near the umbone. The adductor muscle scars and the pallial line are clearly visible and there is a large, rounded pallial sinus. The siphons are joined for their full length, a fact that distinguishes this species from the otherwise similar "Ruditapes decussatus".

Behavior

This bivalve extends its siphons to the surface of the sediment in which it is buried, and draws in water through one of them and expels it through the other. While the water is passing through the gills, phytoplankton and other organic food particles are filtered out.
Individuals clams are either male or female, and breeding takes place mostly in summer by the liberation of gametes into the water. The resulting larvae drift with the currents as part of the plankton for about two weeks before settling on the seabed, undergoing metamorphosis and becoming juveniles known as "spat".

Habitat

This species is found in shallow waters in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The clam's range extends from the coasts of Norway south to West Africa. It lives in a shallow burrow just under the surface in sand, mud or gravel. It occurs in the intertidal zone down to about 40 metres.