True Heart Cockle

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$20.00
$20.00
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This is a wonderful and unique find. You have a True Heart Cockle (Corculum cardissa).

It's one of the few shells that is naturally shaped like a classic valentine heart, especially when the two halves (valves) are kept together as they are in your photo.

Here are the details about this fascinating shell:

  • Identification: The shell is unmistakable due to its prominent heart shape when viewed from the side, as in your picture. It has fine, radiating ribs across its surface. The shell itself is quite thin and delicate.
  • Unique Biology: This is one of the most unusual bivalves in the world. The True Heart Cockle is a "solar-powered" clam. Its shell is partially translucent, allowing sunlight to penetrate through to the mantle tissue inside. The clam farms symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) within its tissues, which photosynthesize and provide the clam with a significant amount of its required nutrients.
  • Habitat and Range: To facilitate this solar-powered lifestyle, the clam lives in shallow, sunny waters on sandy flats and in coral reef lagoons. It often lies partially buried with its translucent shell angled up towards the sun. They are found in the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
  • Size: A 2-inch size is a typical adult size for this species, making your specimen a great example.


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