The common piddock is a burrowing bivalve that bores into soft rock and clay along the coastlines of Europe, using the rasping edges of its own shell to slowly grind out a tunnel it lives in for its entire adult life. Once inside, it cannot leave its burrow, growing larger as it digs deeper and feeding by drawing in seawater through a pair of long siphons that reach up to the burrow's opening. Piddocks and their burrows are frequently exposed in eroding cliffs and rock platforms, and their tunnels remain visible in rock long after the animal itself is gone.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Scientific Name Connections
Child Taxon Of
Bivalvia, Taxa Source GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Pholas dactylus
Sources
1. Pholas dactylus (Wikipedia)
Lead section
It was once a highly esteemed food in Europe. It is sensitive to light, retracting into its shell when exposed to it.
Lead, living organism
The piddock bores into the substrate for shelter, and lives in a tubular burrow formed by grinding the material away with hard parts of the shell by rotating on the longitudinal axis.
Diet and feeding
It is a filter feeder, using its siphons to reach the water outside the burrow.
Habitat and distribution
is a bioluminescent clam-like species of marine mollusc in the family Pholadidae.
View the Source2. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Pholas dactylus
GBIF Backbone TaxonomyTaxon recordQuote, Taxon record
"canonicalName": "Pholas dactylus"
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