The pod razor, Ensis siliqua, is a coastal bivalve of European waters. It is edible and has been exploited commercially, especially in Spain and Ireland.^[3]

There is at least one subspecies: E.s. minor.^[4]

Description

Ensis siliqua; a) foot b) mantle c) inhalant siphon d) exhalant siphon e) shell

The valves of the shell are elongated and reach a length of up to twenty-one centimetres (8.3 in). The two sides are straight and parallel. The colour is creamy white, sometimes with brownish stripes, and the periostracum is olive green. It is sculptured with fine lines and growth marks can be seen. The anterior end is truncated while the posterior end is rounded.^[5] It has a very large foot and is capable of burrowing in the fine, hard-packed muddy sediments that it favours. where it is associated with the starfish (Astropecten irregularis) and the common otter shell (Lutraria lutraria).^[3]

Distribution and habitat

E. siliqua is found in coastal areas of the north east Atlantic Ocean from the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.^[5]

See also

• Razor shell, a close relative

References

v t e Edible mollusks Bivalves Clams Atlantic jackknife Atlantic surf Geoduck Grooved carpet shell Hard clam Horse Mactra stultorum Blunt gaper Ocean quahog Pacific razor Pecten jacobaeus Venus California butterclam Senilia senilis Smooth clam Soft-shell Triangle shell Tuatua Japanese littleneck Razor clam Pod razor Ensis (razor genus) Paphies Cockles Common Blood Goolwa New Zealand Mussels Blue Mediterranean New Zealand green-lipped California Brown Asian/Philippine green Date Mytilidae (mussel family) Oysters Auckland Eastern Olympia Southern mud Colchester native Pacific Portuguese Windowpane Rock Sydney rock Ostra chilena/Bluff Gillardeau oysters Crassostrea ("true oyster" genus) Scallops Atlantic bay Great/king New Zealand Peruvian calico Yesso Gastropods Abalone White Red Black Green Pink Blacklip Green ormer Pāua (group of three species) Chilean Conches Queen Dog Limpets Black-foot opihi/Hawaiian Turtle/talc Yellow-foot opihi China Common European Rayed Mediterranean Ribbed Mediterranean Rustic Periwinkles Common Banded Littorina sitkana Whelks Common Kellet's Knobbed Lightning Channeled Other snails Sea Mud-flat Korean mud Chorus giganteus Land Helix aspersa Helix lucorum Helix pomatia Freshwater Nerites Inkfish Cuttlefish Spineless Bottletail Octopus Common Atlantic white-spotted Big blue Pacific giant Southern red Amphioctopus fangsiao Squid New Zealand arrow Japanese flying Humboldt Neon flying Chitons Chiton magnificus Acanthopleura granulata Related topics Oyster farming Land snail farming