The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word ORMER
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
O
R
M
E
R
More clues leading to the result ORMER
- Shell of yellow hue on French sea
- Seafood needing force to get out of mould
- Minor merchant stocking shellfish
- Shell female got rid of in past
- Shellfish for me really encapsulates it!
- Poor merchant stocking shellfish
- Gold-coloured foreign sea shell
- Sea-ear’s first of two with no top
- Long-gone headless sea creature
- Gold French sea shell
Buddy explains!

The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ORMER mean?
ORMER noun- An abalone or sea-ear, particularly Haliotis tuberculata, common in the Channel Islands.