Seashell Identification – Common Atlantic Shells

Some common long shells found on the beaches I frequent are the pen shell, jackknife clam and stout tagelus.

Pen shells often have an iridescent shine and the ones I find are usually just pieces. An unbroken shell can be close to a foot in length.

According to my Seashell Book, there are three types of pen shell: the sawtooth, stiff and half-naked. Pretty weird names. Contrary to what you might think, the sawtooth is the smoothest looking. The other two have vertical ridges going the length of the top “fan” part of the shell.

The Minor Jackknife Clam Shell

This long, whitish shell is the Minor Jackknife clam. My kids used to call it a fingernail shell. It is also a razor clam.

pen shells and jackknife clam shell — Jackknife clam and pen shells

The longish and wider shells shown below next to my eye glasses are stout tagelus. These are also known as “short razor” clams.

stout tagelus clam shell — Stout tagelus clam shells

Pen shells are related to mussels which are not the prettiest of shells. I have one in my photo below along with a tagelus.

Florida seashells — Broken Crown conch, mussel, clam, tagelus, dosinia, little shark’s eye, and tiny marsh periwinkles (one sits on top of a penny).

Ribbed mussel shell — Open and empty mussel shell

Latest from the Blog

Pictures of the Beach at New Smyrna and Ponce Inlet

We went to the beach for a few hours and I got to visit Ponce Inlet and look for shells. Since my son likes to fish from the beach, he drops me off by the jetty (picture down the page) and drives back down the beach. He’ll park about a mile away so I can […]

Scallop Shells Collected on the East Coast

While photographing my newly collected shells the other day, I decided to re-photograph my pretty scallop shells. Florida waters can contain a variety of types of scallops, but the shells I find over here on the east coast are mainly the Atlantic Calico Scallop. While beachcombing in my area of Florida, the best shells are […]

A Rare Find For Me, The Bubble Shell

The bubble shell is immediately recognizable by the wide open curl at the bottom of the aperture. The shell I found was very bleached and worn, and the top was broken. The Bubble is not a rare shell, in fact they can be found all around the state of Florida, according to my reference book. […]