Slender Cockle Shell, Trachycardium procerum

Slender Cockle Shell, Trachycardium procerum. Shell provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, March 2010. Size: 7.6 cm (3.0 inches) x 6.4 cm (2.5 inches). Identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

The Slender Cockle, Trachycardium procerum (G.B. Sowerby I, 1833), is a bivalve mollusk that is a member of the Cardiidae Family of Cockles and True Cockles, that is also known as the Mexican Cockle and in Mexico as almeja piconudo. The Shell is tear-drop shaped in profile with their exterior being sculpted with 21 to 24 heavy radial ribs. The outside color is white, in some cases with brown mottling or specks and the shell is usually covered with a thin tan periostracum. The inside is white with brownish purple shading toward the anterior. The Slender Cockle shell reach a maximum of 11.7 cm (4.6 inches) in length and 10.2 cm (4.0 inches) in height.

The Slender Cockle is found over and within sand and mud substrate from the intertidal zone to depths up to 26 m (85 feet). They range from Scammon’s Lagoon, Baja California to Peru and they are found throughout the Sea of Cortez.

Synonyms include Cardium dulcinea, Cardium ferruginosum, Cardium laticostatum, Cardium panamense, Cardium parvulum, Cardiuim procerum, Cardium rotundatum, Trachycardium panamense, Trachycardium procerum, and Trachycardium eudoxia.