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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

Noble pen shell
Pinna nobilis
Πίννα

Sustainability Status

Illegal species

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Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Bad choice –Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Legal

Minimum Size

–

Prohibited Consumption Period

Year round

Sustainable

Minimum Size

–

Avoid Consumption Period

Year round

Advice for Consumption

Fishing, possession, sale, and consumption of this species are illegal. If you encounter it in a fish market, restaurant, or elsewhere, please report it.

This is a Critically Endangered species protected under national and European legislation. All forms of deliberate capture, killing, possession, sale, or disturbance are prohibited.

The Mediterranean population has declined dramatically in recent decades due to overfishing and the collection of its shell for decorative purposes.

Since 2016, a devastating mass mortality event, caused primarily by the parasite Haplosporidium pinnae, has further decimated the remaining populations, pushing the species to the brink of extinction.

Common names

FR

Grande nacre

it

Pinna nobile

es

Nacra común

tr

Pina

pt

–

nl

Grote steekmossel

de

Edle

toxicity

This species is illegal to consume.

iucn info

Critically endangered (CR)

Description

A large bivalve mollusk with a distinctive, elongated, and fragile, fan-shaped shell. The shell is triangular, and tapering to a point. It is light yellow-brown to dark brown and sometimes has darker patches.

It looks like Pinna rudis, is more robust and has a more traingual shell shaper withg 5-10 distinct radial ribs, usually stay under 40 cm while Pinna nobilius can reach 90 cm.

Did you know?

It is one of the largest bivalves native to the Mediterranean region!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Filter feeder.
It filters particles from the water column, mainly phytoplankton, bacteria, detritus (organic particulate matter) and occasionaly very fine zooplankton.

habitat

Bentic.
Lives in sand and seagrass meadows such as Posidonia oceanica.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 120 cm
Max weight: 3 kg
Depth range: 125-200 m

breeding & Growth

Mostly gonochoric (species with separate sexes), some are protandric hermaphrodites (born with male reproductive organs and changes into a female later in life). Gonad development in spring and spawning mainly during warmer months.
Growth rate: Slow (k = 0.15yr⁻¹)

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 10-20 years
Max reported age: 50 years, average around 20 years
Distribution: It is endemic to the Meditteranean Sea. They do not occur naturally anywhere else in the world.

appearance changes

Embryos develop into free-swimming larvae, succeeded by the bivalve veliger, resembling a miniature clam. The shell thickens and increases in size with age.

Reproductive Cycle

An female adult can release up to 14 millions of eggs per spawning season, once or twice a year.
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Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms