What is a cockle shell?
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Cockles are edible shellfish found in coastal areas. They belong to the Cardiidae family and live in the water in the low tidal areas.
Cockles range between 1-15cm in size, and they're mostly found in places with fine sands or mud.
Types of Cockle Shells
Many cockle shells are usually found on the surface of the water, close to the sea, and buried lightly.
Prickly Cockle Shell (Yellow)
This cockle shell shows a close similarity with scallops, but they're not. There is swelling underneath the shell and on the two sides.
They also have unique ridges in the place where the two shells meet.
These shells are mostly found around the coastal areas in Florida. These shells look like other shells and could pass for them, but they're unique.
They can grow up to 2.5 inches, but that's the highest they can grow. The yellow prickly cockle shells are also known to have ridges with spikes, and some are coarse and unattractive.
Dirty Prickly Cockle Shell (Dark Brown)
Also known as the Atlantic Giant cockle shell, the external part of these shells looks very much like the prickly cockles, but they're much bigger.
The color of this shell is pale brown with touches of dark brown. The color beneath the shell can either be light pink or purple.
The cockle consists of two halves of the same size and shape. The colors of cockles can be light red, light yellow, or chocolate brown.
Since there are different species of cockle, some shells are fine while some are coarse and have lumps. The shells sometimes close tightly without any space for opening.
Cockles are versatile animals because they can live on the land to feed or enter the water when they're in danger. Cockle shells can be found in many coastal parts of the world, including sheltered coasts.
Depending on the point of view, a cockle can give a heart or is spherical. A popular form of cockle, the egg cockle, tends to have a fine and smooth shell, while many cockles have different radial ribs.
The amazing thing about the cockle shell is that it can limp by widening its feet.
The giant Atlantic cockle can grow up to 15.24 cm in length.
Cockles come in different types, but the notable ones include the dog cockle, egg cockle, and blood cockle. Egg cockles mostly live on sheltered beaches in many parts of the globe.
The blood cockles live on many Korean and Malaysian beaches.
Wonderful cockle shells are found in these areas and other places with beaches around the world.
So, if you want to get as much cockle as possible you should consider visiting such places.