Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. 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 seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. 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.
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term coquina comes from the Spanish word for "cockle" and "shellfish".
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.
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.
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.
Donax is a genus of small, edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. The genus is sometimes known as bean clams or wedge shells; however, Donax species have numerous different common names in different parts of the world. In the southeastern U.S. they are known as "coquina", a word that is also used for the hard limestone concretions of their shells and those of other marine organisms.
The Scotch bonnet is a medium-sized to large species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Cassinae, the helmet shells and bonnet shells. The common name "Scotch bonnet" alludes to the general outline and color pattern of the shell, which vaguely resemble a tam o' shanter, a traditional Scottish bonnet or cap. The shell is egg-shaped and fairly large, 2 to 4 inches in maximum dimension, with a regular pattern of yellow, orange or brown squarish spots. The surface sculpture of the shell is highly variable: the surface can be smooth and polished, have grooves, be granulated, or even be nodulose on the shoulder of the whorls.
The lettered olive, Oliva sayana, is a species of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Olividae, the olive shells, olive snails, or olives.
Argopecten is a genus of saltwater clams, or scallops, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Pectinidae.
Fasciolaria tulipa, common name the true tulip, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fasciolariidae.
Donax gouldii, common name the Gould beanclam, is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Donacidae.
The truncate donax, abrupt wedge shell, wedge clam or coquina clam, is a bivalve species in the family Donacidae.
Donax hanleyanus, common name the wedge clam, is a marine bivalve mollusk species in the family Donacidae, the bean clams or wedge shells. It is widely distributed throughout the sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast of South America, from Brazil to Argentina.
Coquina Beach is a beach in North Carolina, US, located in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is located not far from the Wright Brothers National Memorial and is off highway 12 at milepost 22, 8 miles (13 km) south of Nags Head, North Carolina. Local activities include swimming, crabbing, surf fishing, surfing, shell collecting, bird and wildlife watching and sightseeing. Coquina Beach is considered by many visitors to be among the loveliest beaches in the Outer Banks. The beach is named for the tiny Coquina clams which abound in the margin.
Arcinella arcinella, or the Caribbean spiny jewel box clam, spiny jewel box clam, or spiny jewel box, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Chamidae.
Pitarenus cordatus, or the cordate venus clam, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae. It can be found throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys.
Oscilla tornata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.
Donax fossor is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc species in the family Donacidae. This species is native to the eastern coast of the US, as far north as New York State; in the past it was sometimes incorrectly considered to be a northern, less colorful form of Donax variabilis.
Stewartia floridana is a bivalve of the family Lucinidae that is chemosymbiotic with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
Panopea bitruncata is a species of marine bivalve commonly known as the Atlantic geoduck or Atlantic geoduck clam. These clams like their more famous Pacific relative P. generosa have an enlarged siphon that can extend to great lengths or contract to just barely poke out of the shell. They are generally smaller in comparison to the Pacific species though still constitute a sizable mollusc as they cannot fully retract their siphon.
