In the absence of any new wildflower finds from my break in Dorset, I thought I’d feature seashells this week, in particular the various beautiful Scallop shells I found during a wander along the high tide line. In my ignorance I thought a Scallop was a Scallop, i.e. just one species, but I soon discovered I was very wrong and that I may have seen the shells of at least three different species on Weymouth beach, and that they can be tricky to tell apart.

I had just thought I would take and share some pretty photos, so I didn’t measure the lengths of the shells, or count their radiating ridges, or examine the size and symmetry of the ‘wings’ on the bottom edge, or even check whether the bowl-shaped shells were attached to other bowl-shaped shells or to flat shells, all features which might have helped with their identification.

From what I’ve read online, the three most likely species of Scallop in this location are Variegated scallop (Chlamys varia), Queen scallop (Aequipecten opercularis), and Great (or King) scallop (Pecten maximus). I’m fairly sure at least two of the shells are the latter species, Great scallop, as they seem to be the only local species that has a bowl-shaped shell attached to a flat shell, and I found a couple of flat shells.

On the Dorset Wildlife Trust website I read one particularly interesting fact about the Variegated scallop that I did not previously know: ‘In common with many other shellfish, the variegated scallop starts life off as a male and changes sex several times during its lifetime.’ Reading about these and the other mollusc shells I noticed but didn’t photograph has definitely piqued my interest in learning more so I’ve just been looking at potential guide books to help with future identification. If you have any personal recommendations, please do share their details in the comments.