The edges are parallel, tapering slightly towards the posterior and are off white with transverse bands of brown.

[2][3] Two identifying features are that the posterior adductor muscle is positioned some one and a half times its own length from the pallial sinus, and that the muscle that retracts the foot is posterior to the insertion point of the ligature.

[2] At low tide, a keyhole-shaped depression in the sand is often the only visible sign that the bivalve is present.

Reproduction takes place in the spring and the larvae are pelagic and form part of the zooplankton.

[6] Ensis ensis is often found living in association with other burrowing animals including the sea potato, Echinocardium cordatum, and the bivalve molluscs Tellina fabula and Chamelea gallina.