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Dieren en planten

Molluscs   Marine snails   Pelican's foot   Freshwater snails   Nudibranch   Necklace shells   Periwinkles   Large sea snails   Other sea snails   

Pelican's foot

size:

4.5 centimeters

color:

yellow-brown, washed up specimen often discolored to gray-blue-black

food:

diatoms and organic matter

reproduction:

sexual

  • Dut: Pelikaansvoetje
  • Lat: Aporrhais pespelecani
  • Eng: Common pelican's foot
  • Ger: Pelikanfuß
  • Dan: Pelikanfod
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Common pelican's foot, Ecomare

Pelican's foot

It doesn't take much imagination to understand how this animal got its name. The projections by the opening of mature animals resemble bird feet, with webbing and all. Live pelican's feet are never found on wadden beaches. Most shells wash ashore on Terschelling. The shells in the photo are mature specimen, recognized by the protruding 'foot'. Sometimes, younger animals wash ashore, which can be seen by the lack 'foot'. Many of the washed-up specimen are fossils, possibly dating back to the Eemian interglacial period.

  • Distribution and habitat

    The pelican's foot lives in colonies in the North Sea between 10 and 180 meters deep. It digs itself into soft bottoms. It doesn't live in the vicinity of the Netherlands. 

  • Shop-shell

    Washed up pelican's feet are found more often in southern countries than in the Netherlands. The southern species, for example from the Mediterranean Sea, have a 'foot' with longer protrusions and not much webbing. Those from northern Europe have blunt protrusions and wide webbing.
    Most of the pelican's feet found along the Dutch coast are old and eroded. Should you find a flawless shell, there is a good chance that it comes from a jewelry shop and lost on the beach or at sea. It is then referred to as a shop-shell.