Florida Prickly Cockle

Florida Prickly Cockle or Even Pricklycockle (Lee No. 127)
Trachycardium egmontianum (Shuttleworth, 1856)
Family Cardiidae

The Florida Prickly Cockle or sometimes called the Even Pricklycocle is a common clam shell found on the beaches of Florida and easy to find on the beaches of South Hutchinson Island.


Florida Prickly Cockles from my collection (S. Hutchinson Island, November 2020)

Below are the white variants with a tinge of pink:


Light colored Florida Prickly Cockle (from my collection S. Hutchinson Island 2010)

The shell size to 2.5" and is rounded, inflated. Sculpture of 27-32 strong radial ribs bearing sharp scales. Umbones central. Internally glossy. Color creamy-white to tawny-gray, with yellowish, orange, brownish and/or purplish patches. Internally bright salmon, reddish, and/or purple. The external shell is also white with pink tinges around the beak and ocassionally other colors. Albinistic specimens are sometimes found on the barrier islands of SW Florida.


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The Florida Prickly Cockle

The Florida Prickly Cockle, Trachycardium egmontianum (Shuttleworth, 1856), is one of the most commonly found bivalves along the shores of Southwest Florida. Its common name originates from the spiny projections distributed along radial (oriented from the “beak” to the edge) ribs. As other species of cockles do, Florida Prickly Cockles use their foot as a “pole vault” or lever to propel themselves away from threatening predators such as Apple and Lace Murexes. Almost pure white shells, known as “albinistic” by collectors, are not uncommon.

 

The albinistic Florida Prickly Cockle shell depicted in the middle and right images was collected by yours truly under the Blind Pass bridge on Sanibel in March 2010. The posterior view of albinistic shell shows the ligament (brown structure on top). All photos by José H. Leal.


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