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Unusual Shell found in Luce Bay

Members of the Kirkmaden Natural History Group have been finding unusual shells on the beach at Luce Bay.  Barbara Short and Sue Perkins were walking on the beach by Sandhead when they found a number of strange brown shells washed up on the shore which were unlike any they had found before.  They looked them up and identified them as Scaphander lignarius commonly known as the canoe shell.  Local marine biologist Jim Logan confirmed the identification and visited the site where more of the shells were found.   Scaphander lignarius occurs around the south and west coasts of Britain burrowing in muddy sand in deep water.  It is not common but has been recorded previously in dredge samples from Luce Bay.  Altogether members of the Kirkmaden Natural History Group have found over 20 shells of the canoe shell, some containing the recently dead animals.  On his visit to Sandhead Jim found a total of 45 different species of shells including three species which he thinks have never been recorded from the Solway before.

© Kirkmaiden Natural History Group 2010

Scaphander lignarius

Image © frontiersinzoology.com

Scaphander lignarius

Image © Jean Michel Crouzet

Canoe shell

Scaphander lignarius

Read the article about the Woody Canoe Shell  in ‘European marine Life’  here.