#4782 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs
Noah's Ark shell
🇳🇱 Arkschelp ·Arca noae
🐌 Snails, slugs & other molluscs 📍 in Europe, not in NL
8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
Arca noae or the Noah's Ark shell is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Arcidae. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea from low tide mark to a depth of 60 metres (200 ft).
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 3,344 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Noah's Ark shell
- Nederlands
- Arkschelp
- scientific name
- Arca noae
- class
- Bivalvia
- order
- Arcida
- family
- Arcidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings in Europe
- 3,098
- sightings worldwide
- 3,344
- GBIF records in NL
- 3
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 324550, Wikidata Q632517, GBIF 4373199, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.