Spiny Paper Cockle (Papridea soleniformis Brugière, 1789): Not Quite Paper-Thin Cockle Shell

The Spiny Paper Cockle, Papridea soleniformis (Brugière, 1789), is an attractive, fragile, slightly elongated cockle shell with a mottled, reddish-brown to pinkish-white exterior. At times an all-orange or pure yellow specimen can be found.

The adult Spiny Paper Cockle may reach a length of 1½ inches. The interior of the bivalve shell rose-flecked, mottled, or off-white. The bivalve shell is rather compressed, with approximately 12 low, weakly-spined ribs. The inside margin is serrated at the ends of the rib channels. The ribs have short spines (which may be worn down, or off, on beach specimens) at the edges of the shells. The ribs lack spines in the center area of the shell.

The beaks or umbones are low, and the bivalve halves gape at the posterior. The two halves of the shell are equal in size. Each valve has two cardinal teeth.

The cockle is found from the North Carolina coast to the West Indies and the Bermuda coast. It resides in water from 10ft to 100ft deep.

Notes

The specimens pictured here were found at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
For more information on the Spiny Paper Cockle see:
- R. Tucker Abbott, Seashells of North America: A Guide to Field Identification.
- R. Tucker Abbott and Percy A. Morris, Peterson Field Guides: Shells of the Atlantic & Gulf Coasts & the West Indies.
- S. Peter Dance, Shells.
- Percy A. Morris, A Field Guide to the Shells of Our Atlantic Coast.
Classification: Family Cardiidae; Superfamily Cardioidea; Order Veneroida; Subclass Heterodonta.
Scientific nomenclature is subject to change, due to ongoing research. The above classification corresponds to that published by the Conchologists of America, Inc.
Digital formatting is by Jonathan Mitchell.

Spiny Paper Cockle:Not Silver Bells, But Spiny Cockle Shells

Notes

Spiny Paper Cockle:
Not Silver Bells, But Spiny Cockle Shells