Lutraria lutraria (Linnaeus, 1758)

Norway & Baltic to Morocco, Mediterranean. Lives burrowed in sandy-muddy bottoms, often in Zostera meadows, from lower intertidal grounds down to circa 100m deep. Original taxon: Mya lutraria. Calambrone beach, Livorno, Toscana, W. Italy. 90mm.

Beachstromed, Le Grau du Roi, Gard, S. France. 35-65mm.

Synomym: elliptica Lamarck, 1801. At low tide on sand, Grande plage, NW. of Quiberon peninsula, S. Brittany, NW. France. 110-120mm.

Adult specimen collected at extreme low tide, Les Rosaires, Plérin, St-Brieuc area, N. Brittany. 91-92mm.

Keremma beach, Tréflez, N. Finistère, NW. Brittany. 103mm.

At low tide on sand, Koksijde, West Flanders, Belgium. Original picture provided by F. Nuyttens form WoRMS. – (CC BY-NC-SA) –

Intertidal, Noordwijk, Zuid-Holland. Original picture provided by M. Langeveld for iNaturalist – (CC BY-SA).

Lutraria elliptica in plate XII of Forbes & Hanley: A history of British Mollusca and their shells vol. 4, London 1853, via BHL.

Lutraria elliptica in J. G. Hidalgo: Moluscos marinos de España, Portugal y las Baleares plate VI, Madrid 1870, via BHL.

Lutraria elliptica in G. P. Deshayes: “Hist. Nat. Mollusques t. I”, Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie, Paris 1844-1867, via BHL.

The species bears orange-brown siphons. Above, a specimen burrowed in sediments at the foot of a reef, north of Callot Island, Carantec, N. Finistère. Original picture provided by P. Corbrion for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC-SA).

Extreme low tide on sand bank, Les Noires, Saint-Malo, N. Brittany. 93mm.

Intertidal, Laredo, Cantabria, N. Spain. Original picture provided by zarapito for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).

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