Beachcomber's Jackpot: Gould's Pandora

BY: STEVE BIASETTI, GROUP FOR THE EAST END DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

If I’m walking on the beach, there’s an excellent chance that I’m looking for natural treasures at my feet. I adored this activity as a child, and I suppose I have never grown up. The list of worthy discoveries as I stroll along the shore is endless. A crab’s claw or carapace, a flat, smooth skipping stone, the shell of a mollusk, a colorful piece of beach glass, a petrified starfish or sea horse… 

The other day, while string-fencing a south-side beach in Greenport to protect piping plovers, I hit a beachcomber’s jackpot. I found a well-preserved valve of a Gould’s pandora. [See the far-right specimen in the photograph.] I’m constantly looking for this thin and flat shell, white on the outside with an iridescent interior. But rarely do I find success. 

Gould’s Pandoras are among the subset of mollusks that have two shells when alive. Known as bivalves, there are approximately 55 species of two-shelled mollusks inhabiting Long Island’s near-shore waters. A handful of these creatures are familiar to local residents, in no small part because they taste good (e.g., Atlantic bay scallop, hard clam, softshell clam, eastern oyster, blue mussel).

Through my many years of searching beaches, I’ve found the shells of about half of Long Island’s 55 bivalves. Other common bivalves – in addition to the five above-mentioned “choice edibles” include surf clam, stout razor clam, transverse ark, and false angelwing. Among the two-shelled mollusks, the very few Gould’s pandora specimens in my collection are prized possessions.

Some local bivalves are easy to find in a live form (for example, ribbed mussels in salt marshes), or may be found alive with a little effort (such as digging for hard clams). Other bivalves are much more difficult to find in such condition. Gould’s pandoras fit this latter description. I have found a live individual of a Gould’s pandora on just one occasion. The successful occurrence took place on August 15, 2014 during a Group for the East End children’s program at Pequash Beach in Cutchogue.

Whether discovering an intact live specimen or a single valve, it is always a thrill to encounter a Gould’s pandora. I wish you good luck in your search!