About Acanthocardia echinata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Acanthocardia echinata, commonly known as the prickly cockle or European prickly cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc that belongs to the family Cardiidae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was originally given the binomial name Cardium echinatum.
The yellowish-brown shell of Acanthocardia echinata can reach up to 75 mm in diameter, and features 18 to 22 spiny ridges. The shell margin is crenulate, and its inner surface is white with prominent grooves. The prickly cockle is distributed in the British Isles and northwestern Europe. It lives within a few centimetres of the sea bottom at depths of 3 m or greater, and dead shells are commonly washed up onto beaches.
