It is found in shallow parts of the northwest Atlantic and also in the North Sea of Scotland coastline and west coast of the Adriatic Sea by a remote area in the Marche region in central Italy, living in the seabed, where it digs its burrows on a very slow revolving movement for years through soft sand and mud always to a max depth of 8ft but always below 3 feet (0.91 m) at the lowest tide.

The posterior end is truncated and rounded and near the beak has an apophysis, a wing-like flange, which helps provide an attachment for the foot muscles.

This layer has usually been stripped away by sand and surf by the time that the empty shells are washed up on the beach, and the valves are usually found singly, because the muscles that hold them together are weak.

[3] Cyrtopleura costata is found in shallow seas in the north east Atlantic Ocean between Cape Cod and the Gulf of Mexico.

It is able to bore through sand, mud, wood, clay and even soft rock using a twisting motion of its pointed, anterior end assisted by jets of water ejected from the mantle cavity.

Under optimal conditions it was found that the larvae were ready to undergo metamorphosis after 12 days, and settlement could be triggered by use of a dilute solution of epinephrine.