Enigma Venus

Katelysia scalarina

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0 m
Water temperature14–21 °C
Best monthsJanuary, March, and April
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 88 records
February: 41 records
March: 62 records
April: 83 records
May: 31 records
June: 24 records
July: 35 records
August: 31 records
September: 61 records
October: 54 records
November: 47 records
December: 56 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0 m · Deepest record: 34 m

0–10 m: 115 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–21 °C

12–14 °C: 72 records
14–16 °C: 265 records
16–18 °C: 8 records
18–20 °C: 9 records
20–22 °C: 6 records

Photos

(c) Rod Lowther, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Colin Meurk, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rod Lowther, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Alex Stuart, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Enigma Venus, Ladder Venus, Sand cockle, Stepped Venerid

Other scientific names: Venus aphrodina, Venus aphrodinoides, Venus conularis, Venus cuneiformis, Venus scalarina, Venus strigosa

Similar species

Ridged Venus
Katelysia rhytiphora
Mud Cockle
Katelysia peronii
New Zealand Cockle
Austrovenus stutchburyi
Cherry stones
Mercenaria mercenaria
Wedding-cake venus
Bassina disjecta
Cockle-like Venus
Chioneryx cardioides

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
509 open-data records from 1884 to 2017.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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