National Marine Week

National Marine Week 

National Marine Week is The Wildlife Trusts nationwide celebration of all things marine. Despite the name, it lasts 15 fun-filled days to allow for the variation in tide times around the country. This year is slightly different, due to the Covid-19 crisis, but there's still lots to get stuck into! To find out more head over to the Wildlife Trust website. As it is National marine week, I am going to talk a bit about shells.

 Shells

The razor shell, Ensis magnus, also called razor clam, razor fish or spoot (colloquially), is a bivalve (aquatic mollusc) of the family Pharidae. It is found on sandy beaches in northern Europe. 

Top shells have a top-shaped or conical shell. The inside of the shell has a pearl-like coating, which was used for buttons in Victorian times. Top shells vary in size from 5 to 130 m, the largest are found in tropical waters. 

People have eaten mussels for over 2,000 years. Prehistoric settlements can often be identified by large mounds of empty mussel shells. The Blue Mussel is the most found mussel in Scotland and the British Isles. 

Cockle, also called heart clam, any of the 250 species of marine molluscs, or clams, of the family Cardiidae. Distributed worldwide, they range from about one centimetre in diameter to about 15 centimetres. 

Dog whelk is a type of sea snail and they are commonly found on rocky shores around the UK. They eat mussels and barnacles, once they have eaten them they hide in their shells for a number of days and then come out to feed again. They can grow to between 3 and 6cm. 

Scallops are thick pink animals that live in fan shaped shells. The animal hides in these shells like cockles and mussels. Scallops can be found all over the world they are often live in areas where the sea floor is muddy. Some scallop shells have been shown to grow to up to 20cm wide! 

The size of the limpet shell changes, it depends how close the actual animal is to the water when the tide goes out. The closer the limpet is to the water, the flatter and smaller its shell. The further the limpet is from the water, the wider and taller its shell. The diameter can reach up to 6cm. The limpet travels across the rocks with its single foot. 

The pullet carpet shell is a cream, grey or pale brown colour, sometimes with irregular streaks or rays of darker colour. The inside of the shell is glossy white, sometimes with purple markings. There would be another half of the shell and where they join together you can see 3 cardinal teeth. It can grow up to 5cm.