The shell of an adult Barbatia barbata can be as large as 35–100 millimetres (1.4–3.9 in).

Usually it is oblong and flattened, with many radial ribs cut by concentric lines.

When alive or fresh dead, the shell has a characteristic hairy dark periostracum (hence the Latin name barbata, meaning "bearded"), covering the entire surface of the shell except for the apical part.

This ark clam is found along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, especially in Greece, Italy and Tunisia.

This species lives on rocky or coralligenous (coral-bearing) seabed.