In earlier posts I have talked about some of the types of holes made by sea creatures in rocks, stones, shells, and wood on the seashore. Here are some photographs of holes made by the rock-boring species of bivalve mollusc known as the piddock (Pholas probably dactylus) in freshly revealed beds of clay dating from around 10,000 years ago, and hitherto buried beneath peat and sand at Broughton Bay on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales.
Fragile empty shells are visible in many of the burrows. It is difficult to tell whether the shells are ancient or modern but I found no evidence of living specimens. It is tempting to speculate that the holes were made prior to the clay being buried by the overlying peat. The peat was formed when sea levels dropped and the shoreline receded many thousands of years ago. The pictures show the holes exposed in both horizontal and vertical surfaces of the clay.
Some of these images may have been featured in earlier posts.
Jessica's Nature Blog 
I was just as fascinated this time as I was by your earlier posts of the piddock holes. Thanks for the repeat performance.
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Great to see this new and excellent photographic evidence of multiple boring molluscs at work!
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For some reason, posts about burrows and holes in natural substrates made by various invertebrate animals are fascinating to a lot of people all over the world.
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Thank you, Hamish. The last time I saw any living piddocks in their burrows was at Lyme Regis some years ago. I mostly see just the remnants of their existence and activities, as in these pictures.
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Such an intriguing set of pictures. I appreciate shapes made into various materials by nature. Thank you for sharing.
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Who said molluscs were boring?
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Fascinating and the colours are very beautiful
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Thank you, Sandy.
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Well, of course, they are not. They are fascinating. Just because you lead a quiet life does not mean you cannot be interesting.
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Thank you, Philip.
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I’m reading this in Gower and it’s inspired me to head off to Broughton this morning. Thankyou as ever for sharing your views of the natural world.
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Thank you. Have a great excursion – looks like the weather will be good today.
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Just come across these on Ventry beach on the Dingle peninsula… I was quite fascinated by the holes in pieces of turn and then found some of the bivalves inside!
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A good find. Do you mean the piddock holes were in turf? Ventry beach is beautiful. I have been there. https://natureinfocus.blog/2014/09/25/beachcombing-at-ventry/
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Yes I did mean turf, unfortunately I wasn’t able to correct the misspell.
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