The Common Cockle is also known as the Edible Cockle. It is a ‘bivalve’ mollusc which means it has a soft body enclosed in two hinged shells, just like  the Common Oyster and the Common Mussel.  Common Cockles can be found in sandy bays and estuaries all around England, but they are often difficult to detect because they bury themselves about five centimetres under the sand when they are not feeding or when the tide is out.

The two shells of the Common Cockle are the same shape and size with around twenty-five curved ribbed lines running along the surfaces.  The shells are quite solid and thick with a width and length of around four centimetres.  The outer surfaces of the shells can be an off-white, a yellowy white or a brownish white colour and the inner surfaces are usually white with brown or light purple markings. The Common Cockle has a long and powerful muscular foot which is often bent under the shell, but it straightens the foot when it wants to jump forward.   Sometimes the foot can be as long as the shell.

Common Cockles release their eggs directly into the water where they develop and hatch.  The newly hatched larvae become part of zooplankton for around three to six weeks and then they settle on sandy seabeds to develop into adult Common Cockles.