Gaping file shale

Limaria hians

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth7–61 m
Water temperature8–29 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and September
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Borghild NordogNe, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Borghild NordogNe · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Limaria hians, the flame shell, is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Limidae. This species is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Limaria hians”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 131 records
February: 145 records
March: 239 records
April: 170 records
May: 201 records
June: 185 records
July: 527 records
August: 410 records
September: 347 records
October: 215 records
November: 139 records
December: 113 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 7–61 m · Deepest record: 214 m

0–10 m: 75 records
10–20 m: 96 records
20–30 m: 38 records
30–40 m: 50 records
40–50 m: 35 records
50–60 m: 23 records
60–70 m: 10 records
70–80 m: 5 records
80–90 m: 14 records
90–100 m: 9 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–29 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 25 records
10–12 °C: 363 records
12–14 °C: 267 records
14–16 °C: 34 records
16–18 °C: 9 records
18–20 °C: 14 records
20–22 °C: 48 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 60 records
26–28 °C: 29 records
28–30 °C: 17 records

Photos

(c) Philippe Guillaume, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Eridan Xharahi, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Eridan Xharahi · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Diego González Dopico, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Rebekah Bajkó, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Gaping file shale, Gaping fileclam, Flameshell, Flame Shell, gaping fileclam, gaping file shale

Names in 3 more languages

German: Feilenmuschel, Klaffende Feilenmuschel
Spanish: lima, peinecillo
French: lime, Lime bâillante

Other scientific names: Lima aperta, Lima dehiscens, Lima hians, Lima laevigata, Lima levigata, Lima oblonga, Lima tenera, Lima tenuis, Lima vitrina, Mantellum hians, Ostrea glaciata, Ostrea hians, Radula (Mantellum) hians, Radula hians

Similar species

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.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
2,988 open-data records from 1841 to 2025.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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