30.6
'
.
THE SEAS
.
the soft parts within the shell, which in the oyster are far
»
'
from beautiful are here highly attractive with their areas
f
of red, White and orange, marking the position of the repro—
ductive organs,
the
muscle
and the
gills respectively.
They are highly prized as food, two species being marketed
in the British Isles, and many others in dierent parts of
the world.
Of the two former, one, the common scallop
(Pecten maximus), is of conSiderable size, four inches or
more in diameter and is considered a luxury, while the other
(Pecten operaularis) is ab0ut a quarter that size and is
often captured in large numbers off the south c0ast where
it is known locally as the “
queen
”
and nds a ready sale,
being eaten raw like the oyster or else boiled.
'
.
The edible cockle (Cardium edule) is probably familiar
to everyone.
A good average specimen (Plate 109) is about
one inch long and» has a r0unded white shell covered with
small protuberances which enable it to grip the sand in which
it lives.
It is an extremely common shellsh usually
living between tide—marks and is—frequently found where
there “is a stretch of sand
from currents and from
-
the full force of the sea.
Although it normally lies buried_
'
in the sand so that one end of the shell is just ush with the
surface yet it can move about, eitherin the sand or on the
‘
surface, by the help of a muscular “
foot,” a wedge—'shaped
’
organ whiCh is thrust_ out from between the two halves of
the shell.
Like all bivalve molluscs, cockles live on micro—
organisms in the sea waterand not on anything Whichthey-may obtain from the sand
and“ as a result, if there is
sufcient of the right kind of food in the water, the sand
may be literally' packed with cockles lyihg
cheek by
.
jowl.” It has, been estimated that a single bed of some
—
320 acres in South Wales contains a population of about
462,000,000 cockles '!
The young cockles spend a short
,
_
period swimming freely in the sea
settle down
'
.
THE SEAS
.
the soft parts within the shell, which in the oyster are far
»
'
from beautiful are here highly attractive with their areas
f
of red, White and orange, marking the position of the repro—
ductive organs,
the
muscle
and the
gills respectively.
They are highly prized as food, two species being marketed
in the British Isles, and many others in dierent parts of
the world.
Of the two former, one, the common scallop
(Pecten maximus), is of conSiderable size, four inches or
more in diameter and is considered a luxury, while the other
(Pecten operaularis) is ab0ut a quarter that size and is
often captured in large numbers off the south c0ast where
it is known locally as the “
queen
”
and nds a ready sale,
being eaten raw like the oyster or else boiled.
'
.
The edible cockle (Cardium edule) is probably familiar
to everyone.
A good average specimen (Plate 109) is about
one inch long and» has a r0unded white shell covered with
small protuberances which enable it to grip the sand in which
it lives.
It is an extremely common shellsh usually
living between tide—marks and is—frequently found where
there “is a stretch of sand
from currents and from
-
the full force of the sea.
Although it normally lies buried_
'
in the sand so that one end of the shell is just ush with the
surface yet it can move about, eitherin the sand or on the
‘
surface, by the help of a muscular “
foot,” a wedge—'shaped
’
organ whiCh is thrust_ out from between the two halves of
the shell.
Like all bivalve molluscs, cockles live on micro—
organisms in the sea waterand not on anything Whichthey-may obtain from the sand
and“ as a result, if there is
sufcient of the right kind of food in the water, the sand
may be literally' packed with cockles lyihg
cheek by
.
jowl.” It has, been estimated that a single bed of some
—
320 acres in South Wales contains a population of about
462,000,000 cockles '!
The young cockles spend a short
,
_
period swimming freely in the sea
settle down