cockle shell
Small ribbed bivalve
A cockle shell is the ribbed, heart-shaped shell of a cockle—a small edible saltwater clam.
The shells appear in the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" and have long been associated with pilgrimage, particularly to Santiago de Compostela.
Children collect them on beaches; the ridged halves fit together perfectly when closed.
- clamSand-dwelling hinged shellfish
- musselEdible two-shelled mollusk
- scallopFan-shaped edible shellfish
- bivalveTwo-shelled mollusk
- beachSandy waterside margin
sandy beach · shoreline · tide · ocean waves · sand · pearl · ribbed · heart-shaped · Mary · garden · nursery rhyme · seafood · whelk · shore · beachcombing · conch · mollusk · tidepools
shell type/mollusk taxonomy
cockle shellconch shell
Large spiral marine shell
nautilus shell · queen conch · clam shell · mussel shell · oyster shell