Jeffreys (1867) described the body of T. nitida as “greyish, with a slight tinge of purple, and closely speckled with flake-white”.

The respiratory siphon is “almost always blackish” in Ria de Vigo (Roland & Luque, 1994) but both blackish and paler siphons occur on Adriatic T. nitida.   The value of flesh and siphon colours for distinguishing T. nitida from T. reticulata elsewhere is uncertain.

Croatia, September 2016. © A. Petani.