The great majority of modern records in Britain of B. reticulatum are of bleached, dead, strandline shells like these Irish ones, though these are unusually large. Some experienced shore workers have never seen it alive. It may still be found live on the west of Ireland at favoured sites. But it was more common alive in the past; Forbes & Hanley (1853) wrote "This species is found very abundantly in many localities …. It occurs at low-water-mark very abundant, living among Zostera in the Laminarian zone.". Numerous dead shells persist where it was formerly found live and account for the great majority of modern records. In the Netherlands, where it was previously found on Zostera, it has not been seen alive since the 1930s when disease destroyed the Zostera.
16 Bittium reticulatum. Large strandline-shells, heights up to 15mm. September 2017. Cape Clear Island, Cork, Ireland. © J. Peeling.
