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The soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), also known as the longneck clam, or steamer, is a common ingredient of soups and chowders. Found in all seas, it buries itself in the mud to depths from 10 to 30 cm. The shell is dirty white, oval, and 7.5 to 15 cm long.
Many species, including the quahog, geoduck, and soft-shell clam, are edible. The northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria), also known as the cherrystone clam, littleneck clam, or hard-shell clam, and the southern quahog (M. campechiensis) belong to the family of venus clams (Veneridae). M. mercenaria...
...including the quahog, geoduck, and soft-shell clam, are edible. The northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria), also known as the cherrystone clam, littleneck clam, or hard-shell clam, and the southern quahog (M. campechiensis) belong to the family of venus clams (Veneridae). M. mercenaria is about 7.5 to 12.5 cm (3 to 5 inches) long. The dingy white shell, which is...
Many species, including the quahog, geoduck, and soft-shell clam, are edible. The northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria), also known as the cherrystone clam, littleneck clam, or hard-shell clam, and the southern quahog (M. campechiensis) belong to the family of venus clams (Veneridae). M. mercenaria is about 7.5 to 12.5 cm (3 to 5 inches) long. The dingy white...
in general, any member of the invertebrate class Bivalvia—mollusks with a bivalved shell (i.e., one with two separate sections). More than 12,000 species of bivalves are known, of which about 500 live in freshwater; the others occur in all seas. Bivalves usually live on sandy or muddy bottoms.
True clams, in the strict sense, are bivalves with equal shells closed by two adductor muscles situated at opposite ends of the shell, and with a powerful, muscular, burrowing foot. Clams characteristically lie buried from just beneath the surface to depths of about 0.6 m (2 feet). They rarely travel over the bottom as do some other bivalves. Most clams inhabit shallow waters, in which they are generally protected from wave action by the surrounding bottom. One species of abra clam (Abra profundorum), however, has been taken in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of more than 4,800 m (16,000 feet).
Clams draw in and expel water for respiration and feeding through two tubes, the siphons, or “neck.” The water is impelled by the beating of millions of cilia (hairlike structures) on the gills; other cilia strain food from the incurrent water and transport it, entangled in mucus, to the mouth. Eggs are usually shed by the female into the water and fertilized there by sperm released from the male. The eggs develop into larvae that swim briefly before settling permanently on the bottom. A few clams, such as the gem clam (Gemma), have internal fertilization and development.
The size of clams ranges from 0.1 mm (0.004 inch) in Condylocardia to 1.2 m across in the giant clam (Tridacna gigas) of the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Many species, including the quahog, geoduck, and soft-shell clam, are edible. The northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria), also known as the cherrystone clam, littleneck clam, or...
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