Razor shell
Ensis ensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedmolluscs
The razor shell (Ensis ensis) is a species in the family Pharidae, order Adapedonta.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the razor shell
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the razor shell live?
Not recorded
Is the razor shell endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the razor shell classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumMollusca
- classBivalvia
- orderAdapedonta
- familyPharidae
- genusEnsis
- SpeciesEnsis ensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Ensatella europaea, Ensis ensis phaxoides, Ensis phaxoides, Ensis sicula, Solen ensis
Other names and names in other languages (37)
- Common razor clamEnglish
- Common razor shellEnglish
- Narrow jackknife clamEnglish
- Pod razor shellEnglish
- Sword razorEnglish
- Sword razor shellEnglish
- muerguAsturian
- navalla rectaCatalan
- břitka šavlovitáCzech
- sværdskedemuslingDanish
- SchwertmuschelGerman
- ΣτραβοσωλήναςGreek
- muergoSpanish
- couteauFrench
- navallaGalician
- Canolicchio curvoItalian
- マテガイモドキJapanese
- kleine zwaardschedeDutch
- Lingueirão-curvoPortuguese
- Энзис обыкновенныйRussian
- pošvica šabľovitáSlovak
- midhja shpatëAlbanian
- knivmusslaSwedish
- Almindelig knivmuslingDanish
- Echte SchwertmuschelGerman
- Gemeine SchwertmuschelGerman
- Schwertförmige MesserscheideGerman
- schwertförmige ScheidenmuschelGerman
- Couteau sabreFrench
- couteau-sabreFrench
- couteau-siliqueFrench
- Cannolicchio curvoItalian
- Cappa lunga curvaItalian
- Brede kleine zwaardschedeDutch
- slanke kleine zwaardschedeDutch
- rakknivsmusslaSwedish
- rundad knivmusslaSwedish
Relatives of the razor shell
Other species in the same genus Ensis.
Pod razor
Ensis siliqua
Minor jackknife
Ensis minor
Atlantic jackknife clam
Ensis directus
Arched razor shell
Ensis magnus
Razor shell
Ensis leei
Giant jacknife
Ensis macha
CompareRazor shell vs Pod razorRazor shell vs Minor jackknifeRazor shell vs Atlantic jackknife clamRazor shell vs Arched razor shell
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the razor shell?
The razor shell (Ensis ensis) belongs to the family Pharidae in the order Adapedonta.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Razor shell (Ensis ensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ensis-ensis
“Razor shell (Ensis ensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ensis-ensis.
@misc{ensis_ensis_2026,
title = {Razor shell (Ensis ensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ensis-ensis},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}