Elongated shell, narrowing in anterior; carries radial and concentric ribs.
Orange or violet inside. Only about 60 mm long.
Occurs in southern part of Okhotsk
Sea, In Japan Sea, and in Yellow-, Eastern- and South China Seas. Successful
cultivation has resulted in considerably expanded distribution range. Dwells
on silt-sand and sand-pebble inlet sites protected against storms at depths
ranging from 1 to 5-10 m at summer water temperatures of at least 18-20oC.
Young specimens apparently fasten with byssus to rocks and pebbles on littoral
and in very upper sublittoral. Adult mollusks dig into the soil to shell
length and occur at 5-10 m deep.
Commercial and cultivated species;
body used as food. Highly popular both in Asia and Europe.