Common cockle

Common cockle
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Cardiida
Family:	Cardiidae
Genus:	Cerastoderma
Species:	C. edule
Binomial name
Cerastoderma edule (Linnaeus, 1758) [1]
Synonyms
Cardium belgicum De Malzine, 1867 Cardium crenulatum Lamarck, 1819 Cardium edule Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym) Cardium edule burchanae Girscher, 1938 Cardium edule var. batesoni Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1892 Cardium edule var. loppensi Mars, 1951 Cardium edule var. major Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1892 Cardium mercatorium Coen, 1915 Cardium nunninkae Lucas, 1984 Cardium obtritum Locard, 1886 Cardium quadrarium Reeve, 1845 Cardium vulgare Da Costa, 1778 Cerastoderma edule var. sinicola Lacourt, 1974 Cerastoderma nunninkae Lucas, 1984

The common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae, the cockles. It is found in waters off Europe, from Iceland in the north, south into waters off western Africa as far south as Senegal. The ribbed oval shells can reach 6 centimetres (2.4 in) across and are white, yellowish or brown in colour. The common cockle is harvested commercially and eaten in much of its range.