Anadara notabilis (Röding, 1798), reaches 92 mm (about 3.6 inches). Its shell valves have about 25 to 27 radial ribs per whorl, with fine commarginal (“concentric”) lines cross the ribs, giving a beaded aspect to the valves in this species. The shell is white and the periostracum, when present, is brown and heavy (but not as heavy as in the Ponderous Ark, Noetia ponderosa. This species occurs in shallow water along the coast of East Florida and the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, but is not found on the shores of Southwest Florida.
[The Shell of the Week is back. This column used to be published simultaneously in this Blog and in the Sanibel newspaper "Island Sun." The newspaper's offices on Sanibel were severely damaged by Hurricane Ian, and this column will be published only in the Blog, until the "Sun" is ready to shine again!]