Different Types of Bivalves Pictures

Oysters or whelks? Your guide to 9 common beach shells!

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Summer is a time to head to the beach! Whether it's the lake or the seashore you're likely to find some shells sharing the sand with you. Each once belonged to a living creature. But what lived inside them and how can you identify shells?

Flat Shells

Bivalve is used to describe creatures that have two hinged shells that can open and close. Their bodies are soft and squishy so they make the hard shells to protect themselves.

Clams

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Clams can be found in fresh or salt water. The shells are usually short and wide. They can have stripes or colours that can range from black to brown to white. With some, the rings on the shells show the clam's age — just like tree rings!

Scallops

(Photo credit: J_D_L on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC)

These saltwater shells often have several colours in them, usually shades of pink, reddish-brown or white. They have the most "shell-like" look of all the bivalves, with round shapes like a fan.

Oysters

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Oysters are known for making pearls, but those are rare in the wild. They live in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Oyster shells are oval and usually rough and uneven on the outside, like rocks. Inside, the shell is smooth — just like a pearl!

Mussels

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Mussels are the smallest of the bivalve family. They come in a variety of colours, and even stripes, but you'll most often find black, dark blue or white. Mussels have an oblong shape, looking stretched out. They live in both salt and freshwater. Just like oysters, mussels can make pearls.

Sand Dollars

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These saltwater-dwelling sea urchins aren't bivalves, but their flat round shells have a five-pointed pattern on them — like a flower. The shells turn white in the sun, but if you find one that has a feathery fringe that means the sea urchin is still alive.

Spiral Shells

These shells have an opening at one end and are the mobile homes of creatures like snails, hermit crabs, periwinkles and whelks.

Snails

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Snail shells have a tightly curled spiral. Different kinds of snails live on land or in freshwater or in the sea. Snails that live in the ocean have thicker shells to protect them from the stronger waves.

Whelks

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Whelks are a kind of sea snail that live in the Atlantic Ocean. They can have long shells with sharp spikes. In the warmer parts of the Atlantic, you might find conch shells which look like whelks. These are some of the most dramatic shells finds out there!

Periwinkles

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These are another kind of sea snail that lives on ocean coastlines. Their shells are small and round, with a sharp point on the end. They usually come in greys or browns with bands of colour.

Cowries

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This member of the sea snail family has a unique shell that's round and polished, almost like an egg, with a ridged opening on the underside. The shells come in lots of different colours, including spots! They were even once used as money in olden times. There's even one type of cowrie, called the egg cowrie, has a shell covered in a black velvet mantle with small yellow dots that make it look like the glittering stars of the Milky Way.

Different Types of Bivalves Pictures

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/oysters-or-whelks-your-guide-to-9-common-beach-shells

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