Common cockle (Cerastoderma edule)

Common cockle fact file

• Description
• Biology
• Range
• Habitat
• Status
• Threats
• Conservation
• Find out more
• Glossary
• References
• Print factsheet

Common cockle description

This well-known edible cockle has a solid shell, consisting of two valves, which feature prominent ribs and concentric growth-lines ⁽²⁾. The outer surface of the shell is off-white, yellowish or brown, and the inner surface is white ⁽³⁾.

Synonyms

Cardium edule.

Size

Shell length: up to 5 cm ⁽²⁾

Common cockle biology

The common cockle is a suspension feeder, filtering plankton and other organic matter from the water ⁽³⁾. The sexes are separate, and adults typically begin to spawn in their second summer. Fertilisation is external, and a large percentage of a population spawns at the same time. Eggs and sperm are released into the water; the free-swimming larvae (veliger larvae) live for 3-6 weeks in the plankton before undergoing metamorphosis into juvenile cockles, which then settle to the substrate.

Growth rates vary with the season; in winter there is very little growth, and this leads to the marked growth-bands on the shell, which have been used to age cockles ⁽²⁾. The typical life-span of this cockle is 2-4 years, although they may live for 9 years or more ⁽³⁾. Cockles are predated upon by oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), the shore crab (Carcinus maenas), shrimps and flatfish ⁽²⁾.

Common cockle range

This cockle has a wide distribution around the coastline of Britain. Elsewhere, its range extends from the western Barents Sea and Norway in the north, to Spain and Portugal, and reaches as far south as Senegal in west Africa ⁽²⁾.

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Common cockle habitat

Inhabits the middle and lower shore, where it burrows into soft sand, mud and muddy gravel to depths of less than 5 cm ⁽²⁾. It is often found in huge numbers in estuaries and other sheltered inlets ⁽³⁾.

Common cockle status

Common and widespread; not listed under any conservation designations ⁽²⁾.

Common cockle threats

The common cockle has been collected and sold for hundreds of years. Mechanised forms of collecting, using tractors and hydraulic dredging, have largely replaced more traditional methods such as hand raking. There are fears that without adequate management of cockle stocks, these new techniques could result in over-exploitation ⁽²⁾.

Common cockle conservation

In some areas, concerns about over-collecting have led to measures that control the numbers of cockles harvested and the methods used. In Scotland, for example, dredging with vehicles is banned, and hand gathering is the only method allowed in some parts of England and Wales ⁽²⁾.

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Find out more

For more on this species see the Marine Link Information Network (MarLIN) species account, available at:
http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/Cerastodermaedule.htm

You can see the common cockle by visiting the Thames Estuary, Essex:

• Royal Geographical Society’s Discovering Britain walks: 
  http://www.discoveringbritain.org/walks/region/east-of-england/essex-estuary.html

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

Glossary

Larvae

Stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.

Metamorphosis

An abrupt physical change from the larval to the adult form.

Plankton

Aquatic organisms that drift with water movements; may be either phytoplankton (plants), or zooplankton (animals).

References

1. National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (August, 2002)
   http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/
2. Tyler-Walters, H., 2002. Cardium edule. Common cockle. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme. [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. (December, 2002)
   http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/Cerastodermaedule.htm
3. Fish, J.D. and Fish, S. (1989) A student's guide to the seashore. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University press, Cambridge.