By countryfile

Published: Friday, 14 January 2022 at 12:00 am

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Take a closer look next time you’re walking along the seashore and you may be surprised about what you find  – a pointy top shell, a colourful periwinkle or a spired whelk.

Each species in our ID guide has specific patterns and markings, and varies in shape and size, offering clues about the animals’ evolution and their day-to-day lives.

Our guide on how to identify the most common seashells found along the British coastline and best places to find them.

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Tall, spindly cone up to 3cm long. Common anywhere with muddy sediments except for the south-east coast of England.

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Plump, almost circular shell, 2.5cm in length. Can be pink, yellow, purple and white. Common in estuaries except in the south.

Wedge-shaped shell up to 4cm long in shiny white, yellow-purple or brown. Common on all coasts.

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Large shell up to 7.5cm long. Colours range from white to dark-brown. Common on sandy, muddy or stony shores.

Fan-shaped shell with radiating ribs up to 5cm across. Widely distributed in estuaries and sandy bays – up to 10,000 per m².

Familiar conical shell in grey or white with radiating ridges up to 6cm high. Found on rocky shores.

Oval or pear-shaped shell up to 11cm across. The two halves of shell are very different – one smooth and flat, the other rough and concave. Widely distributed but less common on east coast.

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Black or grey conical shell up to 5cm in height. Found everywhere, particularly rocky coasts.

Large, brittle shell up to 12cm long with ridges and radiating lines. Dull-white or grey in colour. Largely found on southern shores.

Unmistakable slender shell up to 25cm long – very common on sandy bays and estuaries. Often washed up in vast numbers after storms.

Yellow-brown spiralling shell up to 10cm high and 6cm wide. Very common. Mobile, the common whelk preys on small bivalves.

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Spired, up to 6cm long, in cream, yellow or grey. Common on all rocky coasts where it feeds on mussels and barnacles.

Small, vari-coloured whorled shell up to 1.5cm – from olive-green to brown, red and yellow. Common wherever kelp occurs.

Small whorled shell, 1.7cm across. Grey or light-yellow with brown or purple streaks. Common on all coasts.

Purple or blue shell, 5-10cm long when adult. Very common on all coasts on intertidal rocks.

A smooth, golden-brown whorled seashell up to 3cm high. Common on sandy shores.

Conical violet/pink and brown streaked shell, up to 3cm high. Very common on seaweed-covered rocky shores.

Guide to Britain’s dolphins, porpoise and whales: how to identify and best places to to see

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Oval shell up to 5cm long with a large opening underneath, up to half the length of the body. Mostly found on the coasts of southern Britain.

Turban-like spire up to 3cm in height in green, grey or black. Extremely common on the rocky shores of south-west England and Wales.

 

Brittle, flattened shell up to 3cm long in shades of pink and yellow. Common on sandy shores.

Illustrations ©Chris Shields

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