| Peppery furrow shell | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Cardiida |
| Superfamily: | Tellinoidea |
| Family: | Semelidae |
| Genus: | Scrobicularia |
| Species: | S. plana |
| Binomial name | |
| Scrobicularia plana (da Costa, 1778) | |
| Synonyms | |
Trigonella planada Costa, 1778 | |
Scrobicularia plana, thepeppery furrow shell, is abivalvemollusc belonging to the familySemelidae.
AlthoughScrobicularia plana is the only species currently recognized byITIS in thegenusScrobicularia;[1]World Register of Marine Species recognises another species,Scrobicularia cottardi as well as somenomen dubia,[2] as does the BioLib.[3]
The genusScrobicularia is sometimes placed as the sole genus in a family,Scrobicularidae. It is now often placed instead in the related familySemelidae, as shown in the infobox. However this placement may change asmolecular systematics provides new insights into thecladistics of the bivalves.
The shell can be anything from white through yellowish to a pale brownish-grey in colour, up to 6.5 cm in diameter. Its interior isnacreous and white or yellowish in colour. The shell is thin but quite deep, with circular closely packed growth ridges.
It is afilter feeder, with longsiphons, burying itself up to 20 cm deep in sand or mud. When buried, it leaves star-shaped markings on the surface, and specimens can be found by looking for these. If the siphons are browsed by fish or other predators, they regenerate in a few days.
Right and left valve of the same specimen:
White form
Yellow form
This species is commonly found at quite high densities on sandy or muddy sea coasts andestuaries[4] in northernEurope, theMediterranean andWest Africa.
The peppery furrow shell is edible and can be found in some fish shops in France, where they are calledlavignons.[5]
