Sword razor

Description:

Is a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pharidae. Bivalves are molluscs with a body compressed between two usually similar shell valves joined by an elastic ligament. There are teeth at the edge of the shell and the animal has a muscular foot, gills, siphons, mouth and gut and is surrounded by a mantle inside its shell. E. ensis has a pair of narrow curved shells that grow up to ten centimetres in length and are thin and rather brittle. The edges are parallel, tapering slightly towards the posterior and are off white with transverse bands of brown. The shell is sculpted with fine co-marginal lines and the annual growth lines can be seen. The inner side of the shell is white with a purplish sheen.

Habitat:

It lives buried in the sand and is found off the coasts of north west Europe.