See the tissue in there? It's still alive enough that tugging gently has no effect, though I can't imagine you're doing so well if you're just sitting on the surface...
[A month or two later: It was probably fine. I put it in shallow water, as I recall, and if I'd waited more patiently, I probably would've seen it dig in like those below did.]
I just wanted one more today showing when the foot just comes out. Nothing special after the novelty's worn off, so I guess this will complete my photos of these guys.
it looks the most like Nuttall's Cockle, but I would not wager too much on that, being not exactly the world's greatest expert here...
A shorebird had given up on getting inside and left it as you see it. I never see them open up on land, but this one...it had found that it could just barely lick the ground, so it kept opening up, extending, licking, retracting, closing. I put it in the water a moment later, of course.
I found another one, and put it in shallow water. After maybe 2.5 minutes, look...
I seem to recall people finding Pax6 in clams and the like, and puzzling over it. Or maybe I just puzzled over it. In any case, now that I actually see shellfish, I can definitely understand the usefulness...
That's a burst of sandy water.
I found a tiny one to repeat the experiment with in a little puddle.
