I believe Solemya is quite specific in its choice of habitat.  It is so
fragile that it has to avoid areas where there is any amount of wave action.
It likes muddy sand in shallow, quiet inlets with grass.  There is one beach
near Cape Cod where I find them in fair numbers.  There is muddy sand, grass
beds, and virtually no wave action; yet there is a fairly strong tidal flow
because the little inlet is quite narrow.  The tidal flow is strong enough
to pick up dead shells and carry them in, yet gentle enough not to break
them (some of them anyway).  At slack tide the shells settle down into the
grass, which holds them in place when the ebb flow begins.  At low tide you
can look carefully among the exposed grass and usually find a number of
unbroken specimens.



> ----------
> From:         Conchologists List on behalf of David Kirsh
> Reply To:     Conchologists List
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 17, 2006 10:25 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Common shells
>
> Anyone who knows,
>
> I've often wondered about some of the shells named "Common" this or
> that, that I've never even found a fragment of, for instance, The
> Common Awning Shell, Solemya velum. Has its population declined
> steeply, or is it found much more frequently in the northern part of
> its range or have I completely missed its habitat?
>
> Maybe people are reminded of other examples of elusive "Common" shells.
>
> David Kirsh
>
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