Tiger Lucine

Identification overview

The tiger lucine, Codakia orbicularis, has a rounded, somewhat flattened shell. Fine radial sculpture crosses concentric lines, producing a delicate textured surface rather than the heavy, widely spaced ribs of many cockles. The shell is generally white and may show pink inside. A heart-shaped depression near the hinge, called the lunule, is another useful identification feature in a shell that is already exposed.

A photograph of a naturally visible shell should show its outline and surface sculpture together. A worn white valve by itself can be difficult to identify, and an empty beach shell is not evidence that the species is living at that exact location. Avoid digging up a clam simply to inspect its hinge or interior. Numeric maximum size is omitted here because reviewed sources use differing limits.

Living records in the local corridor

This species has stronger local support than a shell-only beach report. A reproduction study published in 1984 sampled living tiger lucines at Key Biscayne, Florida, as well as in the Bahamas. Biscayne National Park also includes the species in its official mollusk inventory. These records establish a place in the Vero–Key Largo region without claiming that every seagrass meadow presently supports it.

Think of sediment and seagrass habitat rather than a conspicuous animal perched on an offshore coral head. Because a buried clam is not always visible, absence from a casual dive photograph is not a useful population assessment.

How it obtains nutrition

Tiger lucines maintain sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in their gills. Research has demonstrated that these partners fix carbon and can also fix nitrogen. The relationship helps explain how a clam can make use of chemical processes occurring in its habitat. The bacteria are acquired from the environment rather than inherited inside the eggs, an important distinction from an earlier hypothesis about larval nutrition.

Reproduction

The Key Biscayne and Bahamas study found separate sexes. Eggs developed within individual capsules before veliger larvae emerged and later transformed into young clams. Those observations describe the life cycle; laboratory development times should not be treated as a countdown for every wild Florida animal.

Three details to remember are its crosshatched shell sculpture, documented living Key Biscayne population and bacterial partners. Protect the seagrass setting as carefully as the animal: maintain buoyancy, avoid stirring sediment and leave buried clams undisturbed. This is an identification profile, not shellfish-harvest advice. Current FWC rules, site restrictions and any applicable public-health closures need separate review before collection.

References

• Key Biscayne living-clam reproduction study
• Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum identification
• Research on sulfur-oxidizing gill symbionts
• Biscayne National Park mollusk inventory
• FWC marine-life rules

Current Florida collection cautions

Reviewed November 12, 2026. A living animal in a shell is not an empty-shell souvenir: applicable licensing, species rules and protected-area restrictions must be checked before removal. Leave attached animals and surrounding habitat undisturbed. This guide offers no collection permission or food-safety assurance. As a clam, it may be taken only from a designated approved or conditionally approved shellfish area currently open under FDACS status; that condition alone is not full harvest clearance. Official FWC live-shell collection guidance

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