The Grooved Razor Shell is also known as the Common Razor Shell.  It is a ‘bivalve’ mollusc which means it has a soft body enclosed in two hinged shells, like the Common Mussel and the Common Oyster.  It can be found on most of our English shores, apart from the east coast shores and it has its name  'Razor Shell' because its shell looks like an old-fashioned hinged razor blade. 

The Grooved Razor Shell has a long oblong-shaped shell which can be over ten centimetres long. The shell is smooth and  is usually a yellow colour with pale brown or green markings.  The soft body inside is usually a dull red colour.  It has a tube-like fleshy coloured organ which juts out at one end of the shell.  This organ is called the ‘siphon’ which is used when the Grooved Razor Shell wants to feed. 

The eggs of the Grooved Razor Shell are laid directly into the sea where they develop and hatch.  The newly hatched larvae become part of zooplankton for about a month before settling on the seabed to develop into adult Grooved Razor Shells.