The striped Venus shell clam is abundant in the Adriatic and also found throughout the Black Sea and Mediterranean and into the Eastern Atlantic from Portugal as far north as Norway. They should be soaked in running water for a couple of hours to remove any sand before throwing handfuls into soups or stews. They are approximately triangular in outline and are a dirty white, cream or pale yellow in colour, usually with three red-brown rays of varying width. They have numerous concentric ridges, maybe 14-16, and can grow up to 5 cm (2”) but are generally half that size.
