Clam

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A clam shell (species Spisula solidissima) at Sandy Hook, New Jersey Clams on Sandy Hook beaches - panoramio.jpg
A clam shell (species Spisula solidissima ) at Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. [1] They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America. [2]

Contents

Clams in the culinary sense do not live attached to a substrate (whereas oysters and mussels do) and do not live near the bottom (whereas scallops do). In culinary usage, clams are commonly eaten marine bivalves, as in clam digging and the resulting soup, clam chowder. Many edible clams such as palourde clams are ovoid or triangular; [3] however razor clams have an elongated parallel-sided shell, suggesting an old-fashioned straight razor. [4]

Some clams have life cycles of only one year, whilst at least one has been aged to more than 500 years. [5] All clams have two calcareous shells or valves joined near a hinge with a flexible ligament and all are filter feeders.

Anatomy

Clam with its siphon out Clam with its siphon out in Boothbay Maine.jpg
Clam with its siphon out
Littleneck clams, small hard clams, species Mercenaria mercenaria LittleNeck clams USDA96c1862.jpg
Littleneck clams, small hard clams, species Mercenaria mercenaria

A clam's shell consists of two (usually equal) valves, which are connected by a hinge joint and a ligament that can be internal or external. [6] The ligament provides tension to bring the valves apart, whilst one or two adductor muscles can contract to close the valves. Clams also have kidneys, a heart, a mouth, a stomach, and a nervous system. Many have a siphon. [1]

Food source and ecology

Clams are shellfish that make up an important part of the web of life that keeps the seas functioning, both as filter feeders and as a food source for many different animals. [7] Extant mammals that eat clams include both the Pacific and Atlantic species of walrus, all known subspecies of harbour seals in both the Atlantic and Pacific, most species of sea lions, including the California sea lion, bearded seals and even species of river otters that will consume the freshwater species found in Asia and North America. [8] Birds of all kinds will also eat clams if they can catch them in the littoral zone: roseate spoonbills of North and South America, [9] the Eurasian oystercatcher, whooping crane [10] and common crane, the American flamingo of Florida and the Caribbean Sea, [11] and the common sandpiper are just a handful of the numerous birds that feast on clams all over the world. Most species of octopus have clams as a staple of their diet, up to and including the giants like the Giant Pacific octopus.

A clam dish Sandiego 11 bg 010706.jpg
A clam dish
Clams simmering in a white wine sauce Clams simmering in white wine sauce.jpg
Clams simmering in a white wine sauce

Culinary

Cultures around the world eat clams along with many other types of shellfish.

North America

In culinary use, within the eastern coast of the United States and large swathes of the Maritimes of Canada, the term "clam" most often refers to the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria . It may also refer to a few other common edible species, such as the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, and the ocean quahog, Arctica islandica . Another species commercially exploited on the Atlantic Coast of the United States is the surf clam, Spisula solidissima . Scallops are also used for food nationwide, but not cockles: they are more difficult to get than in Europe because of their habit of being further out in the tide than European species on the West Coast, and on the East Coast they are often found in salt marshes and mudflats where mosquitoes are abundant. [12] There are several edible species in the Eastern United States: Americardia media, also known as the strawberry cockle, is found from Cape Hatteras down into the Caribbean Sea and all of Florida; Trachycardium muricatum has a similar range to the strawberry cockle; and Dinocardium robustum , which grows to be many times the size of the European cockle. [13] Historically, they were caught on a small scale on the Outer Banks, barrier islands off North Carolina, and put in soups, steamed or pickled. [14]

Up and down the coast of the Eastern U.S., the bamboo clam, Ensis directus, is prized by Americans for making clam strips, although because of its nature of burrowing into the sand very close to the beach, it cannot be harvested by mechanical means without damaging the beaches. [15] The bamboo clam is also notorious for having a very sharp edge of its shell, and when harvested by hand must be handled with great care.

On the U.S. West Coast, there are several species that have been consumed for thousands of years, evidenced by middens full of clamshells near the shore and their consumption by nations including the Chumash of California, the Nisqually of Washington state and the Tsawwassen of British Columbia. [16] The butter clam, Saxidomus gigantea , [17] the Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula, [18] gaper clams Tresus capax , [19] the geoduck clam, Panopea generosa [20] and the Pismo clam, Tivela stultorum [21] are all eaten as delicacies.

Clams can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, baked or fried. They can also be made into clam chowder, clams casino, clam cakes, or stuffies, or they can be cooked using hot rocks and seaweed in a New England clam bake. On the West Coast, they are an ingredient in making cioppino and local variants of ceviche. [22]

Asia

India

Clams are eaten more in the coastal regions of India, especially in the Konkan, Kerala, Bengal and coastal regions of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu regions.[ citation needed ]

In Kerala, clams are used to make curries and fried with coconut. In the Malabar region it is known as "elambakka" and in middle kerala it is known as "kakka". Clam curry made with coconut is a dish from Malabar especially in the Thalassery region. On the southwestern coast of India, also known as the Konkan region of Maharashtra, clams are used in curries and side dishes, like Tisaryachi Ekshipi, which is clams with one shell on. Beary Muslim households in the Mangalore region prepare a main dish with clams called Kowldo Pinde. In Udupi and Mangalore regions, it is called marvai in the local Tulu language. It is used to prepare many dishes like marvai sukka , marvai gassi, and marvai pundi.[ citation needed ]

Japan

In Japan, clams are often an ingredient of mixed seafood dishes. They can also be made into hot pot, miso soup or tsukudani. The more commonly used varieties of clams in Japanese cooking are the Shijimi ( Corbicula japonica ), the Asari ( Venerupis philippinarum ) and the Hamaguri ( Meretrix lusoria ). [23]

Europe

Great Britain

The rocky terrain and pebbly shores of the seacoast that surrounds the entire island provide ample habitat for shellfish, and clams are most definitely included in that description. The oddity here is that for a nation whose fortunes have been tied to the sea for hundreds of years, 70% of the seafood cultivated for aquaculture or commercial harvesting is exported to the continent. [24] Historically, Britain has been an island most famous for its passion for beef and dairy products, although there is evidence going back to before most recorded history of coastal shell middens near Weymouth and present day York. [25] (There is also evidence of more thriving local trade in sea products in general by noting the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers was founded in 1272 in London.) Present-day younger populations are eating more of the catch than a generation ago, and there is a prevalence of YouTube videos of locavore scavenging. Shellfish have provided a staple of the British diet since the earliest occupations of the British Isles, as evidenced by the large numbers of remains found in midden mounds near occupied sites. [26]

Staple favourites of the British public and local scavengers include the razorfish, Ensis siliqua , a slightly smaller cousin of the bamboo clam of eastern North America. [27] These can be found for sale in open-air markets like Billingsgate Market in London; they have a similar taste to their North American cousin. [28] Cockles, specifically the common cockle, are a staple find on beaches in western Wales and further north in the Dee Estuary. The accidentally introduced hard-shell quahog is also found in British waters, mainly those near England, and does see some use in British cuisine. The Palourde clam by far is the most common native clam and it is both commercially harvested as well as locally collected, and Spisula solida , a relative of the Atlantic surf clam on the other side of the Atlantic, is seeing increased interest as a food source and aquaculture candidate; it is mainly found in the British Isles in Europe. [29]

Italy

In Italy, clams are often an ingredient of mixed seafood dishes or are eaten together with pasta. The more commonly used varieties of clams in Italian cooking are the vongola (Venerupis decussata), the cozza (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and the tellina (Donax trunculus). Though dattero di mare (Lithophaga lithophaga) was once eaten, overfishing drove it to the verge of extinction (it takes 15 to 35 years to reach adult size and could only be harvested by smashing the calcarean rocks that form its habitat) and the Italian government has declared it an endangered species since 1998 and its harvest and sale are forbidden.[ citation needed ]

Religion

In Islam, clams are halal to eat as per three Sunni sects, but not in Hanafi, as only fish are considered halal in Hanafi jurisprudence, not other aquatic animals. In Judaism, clams are treif, i.e. non-kosher.

As currency

Some species of clam, particularly Mercenaria mercenaria , were in the past used by the Algonquians of Eastern North America to manufacture wampum, a type of sacred jewellery; and to make shell money. [30]

Species

One of the world's largest clam fossils (187 cm), a Sphenoceramus steenstrupi specimen from Greenland in the Geological Museum in Copenhagen. Sphenoceramus steenstrupi.jpg
One of the world's largest clam fossils (187 cm), a Sphenoceramus steenstrupi specimen from Greenland in the Geological Museum in Copenhagen.
Maxima clam, Tridacna maxima 2 Tridacna gigas.jpg
Maxima clam, Tridacna maxima

Edible:

Not usually considered edible:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shellfish</span> Culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates

Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some are found in freshwater. In addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Shellfish are among the most common food allergens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoduck</span> Species of bivalve

The Pacific geoduck is a species of very large saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae. The common name is derived from the Lushootseed name, gʷidəq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cockle (bivalve)</span> Family of edible marine bivalve molluscs

A cockle is an edible marine bivalve mollusc. Although many small edible bivalves are loosely called cockles, true cockles are species in the family Cardiidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clam digging</span>

Clam digging is a North American term for a common way to harvest clams from below the surface of the tidal sand flats or mud flats where they live. It is done both recreationally and commercially. Commercial digging in the U.S. and Canada is colloquially referred to as clamming, and is done by a clammer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific razor clam</span> Species of bivalve

The Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula, is a species of large marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pharidae.

<i>Ensis</i> Genus of bivalves

Ensis is a genus of medium-sized edible saltwater clams, littoral bivalve molluscs in the family Pharidae. Ensis, or razor clams, are known in much of Scotland as spoots, for the spouts of water they eject while burrowing into the sand, when visible at low tide. This term may also colloquially include members of the genus Solen. Ensis magnus are known as bendies due to their slightly curved shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soft-shell clam</span> Species of mollusc

Soft-shell clams or Sand gaper, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams", are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hard clam</span> Species of bivalve mollusc native to the east coast of North and Central America

The hard clam, also known as the round clam, hard-shellclam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prince Edward Island to the Yucatán Peninsula. It is one of many unrelated edible bivalves that in the United States are frequently referred to simply as clams. Older literature sources may use the systematic name Venus mercenaria; this species is in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.

<i>Mercenaria</i> Genus of bivalves

Mercenaria is a genus of edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ark clam</span> Family of molluscs

Ark clam is the common name for a family of small to large-sized saltwater clams or marine bivalve molluscs in the family Arcidae. Generally less than 80 mm long, ark clams vary both in shape and size. They number about 200 species worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic jackknife clam</span> Species of bivalve

The Atlantic jackknife clam, Ensis leei, also known as the bamboo clam, American jackknife clam or razor clam, is a large edible marine bivalve mollusc found on the North American Atlantic coast, from Canada to South Carolina. The species has also been introduced to Europe at the end of the 70's and is already extremely abundant there in suitable habitats. The name "razor clam" is also used to refer to different species such as the Pacific razor clam or Razor shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic surf clam</span> Species of mollusk

The Atlantic surf clam, also called the bar clam, hen clam, skimmer or simply sea clam, is a very large, edible, saltwater clam or marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mactridae. It is one of the most commonly found species of bivalves in the western Atlantic Ocean. Able to reach sizes between 7.9 and 8.9 inches in length, Atlantic surf clams are much larger than Spisula solida, which also resides in the eastern Atlantic coastal waters. Atlantic surf clams reproduce in late summer, when the water temperatures peak.

The pod razor is a coastal bivalve of European waters. It is edible and has been fished commercially, especially in Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Scotland.

<i>Leukoma staminea</i> Species of bivalve

Leukoma staminea, commonly known as the Pacific littleneck clam, the littleneck clam, the rock cockle, the hardshell clam, the Tomales Bay cockle, the rock clam or the ribbed carpet shell, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae. This species of mollusc was exploited by early humans in North America; for example, the Chumash peoples of Central California harvested these clams in Morro Bay approximately 1,000 years ago, and the distinctive shells form middens near their settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grooved carpet shell</span> Species of bivalve

The grooved carpet shell, or Palourde clam, Ruditapes decussatus, or Venerupis decussatus, is a clam in the family Veneridae. It is distributed worldwide and is highly prized due to its ecological and economic interest. It has been proposed as a bioindicator.

<i>Austrovenus stutchburyi</i> Species of bivalve

Austrovenus stutchburyi, common name the New Zealand cockle or New Zealand little neck clam, is an edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. Its Māori name is tuangi or tuaki.

<i>Ensis ensis</i> Species of bivalve

Ensis ensis, or the sword razor, is a razor clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pharidae. It lives buried in the sand and is found off the coasts of northwest Europe.

<i>Venerupis corrugata</i> Species of bivalve

Venerupis corrugata, the pullet carpet shell, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae. It is found buried in the sediment on the sea bed in shallow parts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It is harvested for human consumption in Spain and other parts of Western Europe.

References

  1. 1 2 "Clam". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2016.
  2. ↑ "Can You Eat Freshwater Clams in the Nature?". 29 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020.
    - "Musseling in". August 2012.
    - "USFWS: America's Mussels".
  3. ↑ "Clams recipes". BBC Food. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "Clam". Lexico. Oxford. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Danielle Elliot (14 November 2013). "Ming the Clam, World's Oldest Animal, Was Actually 507 Years Old". CBS News. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "An Introduction to Shell Structures". Marine Bivalve Shells of the British Isles. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "Outreach & Education" (PDF). NOAA Fisheries. 11 June 2020.
  8. ↑ "River Otters". West Sound Wildlife. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    - "Asian small-clawed otter". Marwell Zoo. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "Roseate Spoonbill". Birds of Ambergris Caye.
  10. ↑ "Whooping Crane". National Geographic. 11 November 2010. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Birds of Bonaire". Bonaire.
  12. ↑ "Clams". Fishing & Shellfishing. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
    - "Cockle". SeafoodSource. Diversified Communications. 23 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Atlantic Giant Cockle (Dinocardium robustum)". College of Charleston. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Smith, Prudence (1831). Modern American Cookery ... With a list of family medical recipes, and a valuable miscellany. J. and J. Harper. p. 109 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ "dredging of clams" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Nisqually People and the River". Yelm History Project. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    - Sophia Cross (29 September 2017). "What Did the Chumash Eat?". Classroom. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
    - "Tsawwassen First Nation History and Timeline". Tsawwassen First Nation. 10 November 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  17. ↑ Mark Yuasa (27 June 2015). "Plenty of clams, oysters in Puget Sound and Hood Canal". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  18. ↑ Kelly, Mike (1 February 2018). "Dig Those Razor Clams". North Coast Journal. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  19. ↑ Lackner, Bill. "Oregon clam chowder". Coos Bay World. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  20. ↑ Naomi Tomky (10 August 2018). "All About Geoduck: The Life of a (Delicious) Oversized Mollusk". serious eats. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  21. ↑ Christopher Young (12 April 2013). "Digging for Pismo clams at San Diego Beaches". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  22. ↑ Langdon Cook (4 April 2014). "razor clams" . Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  23. ↑ Kasai, Akihide; Toyohara, Haruhiko; Nakata, Akiko; Miura, Tsunehiro; Azuma, Nobuyuki (1 January 2006). "Food sources for the bivalve Corbicula japonica in the foremost fishing lakes estimated from stable isotope analysis". Fisheries Science. 72 (1): 105–114. Bibcode:2006FisSc..72..105K. doi:10.1111/j.1444-2906.2006.01123.x. ISSN   1444-2906. S2CID   26905032.
  24. ↑ Louise Harkell (10 April 2021). "Trade insights: More than 70% of UK seafood exports go to EU". undercurrent news. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  25. ↑ Thomas, Ken; Mannino, Marcello (1998). "Mesolithic middens and molluscan ecology: A view from southern Britain". Archaeology International. 2: 17. doi: 10.5334/ai.0207 .
  26. ↑ Pickard, Catriona; Bonsall, Clive. "Mesolithic and Neolithic shell middens in western Scotland: A comparative analysis of shellfish exploitation patterns". www.ResearchGate.com. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  27. ↑ "Razorfish". British Sea Fishing. 12 October 2012.
  28. ↑ "Razor Clams on display in Billingsgate Fish Market, London". Alamy.
  29. ↑ Joaquim, Sandra; Matias, Domitília; Matias, Ana Margarete; Gonçalves, Rui; Chícharo, Luís; Gaspar, Miguel B. (2016). "New species in aquaculture: Are the striped venus clam Chamelea gallina(Linnaeus, 1758) and the surf clam Spisula solida(Linnaeus 1758) potential candidates for diversification in shellfish aquaculture?". Aquaculture Research. 47 (4): 1327–1340. doi: 10.1111/are.12593 .
  30. ↑ Kurlansky, Mark (2006), The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, Penguin Group, pp.  16, 30–31, ISBN   978-0-345-47638-8, OCLC   60550567.
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