How to Identify Coquina Seashells

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By shellcrafter
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Coquina Clam Seashell Sampling

How can you tell a Coquina Clam seashell from any other seashell you may have collected? That is what I will try to explain here.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

seashell collection

Step 1

Size

Coquina Clam seashells are small. They rarely exceed 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length. The most common size on the beaches I haunt are 1/2 inch or so. Of course there are usually quite a lot of the smaller ones around, and only a few of the larger.
Step 2

Shape

Coquina Clam seashells have a triangular or wedge shape. They are larger toward the hinge side and smaller the farther from the hinge you get. In fact that is one of their common names - wedge clam or shell. They are also known as Bean clams and Bean shells.
Step 3

Colors

These small and edible clams come in a variety of colors. In fact, Coquina clams can come in white, yellow, pink, red, beige, brown, and purple. These are some of the colors I have seen, there may be others.

The outside of the seashells are shiny, making the colors really stand out. You might find a few duller ones, probably dulled by sea and sand, but mostly they have a nice gloss to them.

These colors give the Coquina clam another common name - Butterfly Clam.
Step 4

Patterns

Quite a few of the Coquina clam seashells I have seen have bands and stripes, forming some very nice patterns.

The bands look like growth rings on a tree, varying in size and color. They parallel the edge of the seashells, the bands being smaller toward the hinge and larger toward the edge.

The stripes run from the hinge out to the edge of the Coquina clam seashells. On a few of the seashells they look like the rays of the sun. Under the rays the seashells can be mostly one color, or banded in shades.
Step 5

Look at the Photo

The easiest way to see if you have Coquina clam seashells or something else is to look at the photo attached to this article. If they look like the examples shown here, then the seashells you have were the homes of these tiny clams.

If you want more information do a search. Try Coquina Clams - not just coquina as that gives all kinds of different stuff. You can also try their science name which is: Donax variabilis. This will help narrow the search results down to the Coquina Clams.