Spondylus gaederopus is a species of marine bivalve mollusc, a thorny oyster in the family Spondylidae.

S. gaederopus has low fecundity as they lay up to 404 858 ± 248 014 female eggs per season starting at the age of 3.

To the south is the distribution area of the closely related species Spondylus senegalensis.

Populations on Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Azores can also be attributed to the latter species.

The colonies of this formerly very common species collapsed at the beginning of the 1980s for unknown reasons.