Arca noae

Arca noae or the Noah's Ark shell is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Arcidae.

It is irregularly striped in brown and white and has finely sculptured ribs running from the umbones to the margin.

The hinge is long and straight and the shell is attached strongly to the substrate by byssal threads.

In the lower part of the intertidal zone in the Adriatic, Arca noae often grows in association with Modiolus barbatus.

[2] Arca noae is fished commercially in the Adriatic Sea, either by divers gathering individual shells by hand or from boats using specially adapted rakes which are pulled along the seabed.