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. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. Clams in the culinary sense do not live attached to a substrate and do not live near the bottom. 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 oval or triangular; however, razor clams have an elongated parallel-sided shell, suggesting an old-fashioned straight razor.
Bivalvia, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. Bivalves as a group have no head and they lack some usual molluscan organs like the radula and the odontophore. They include the clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families that live in saltwater, as well as a number of families that live in freshwater. The majority are filter feeders. The gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing. Most bivalves bury themselves in sediment where they are relatively safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. Some bivalves, such as the scallops and file shells, can swim. The shipworms bore into wood, clay, or stone and live inside these substances.
Soft-shell clams or sand gaper, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks", "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 a quahog, round clam or hard-shellclam, is an edible marine bivalve mollusc 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, as in the expression "clam digging". Older literature sources may use the systematic name Venus mercenaria; this species is in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Venus is a genus of small to large saltwater clams in the family Veneridae, which is sometimes known as the Venus clams and their relatives. These are marine bivalve molluscs.
The amethyst gem clam, Gemma gemma, is species of very small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
Chione cancellata, is a species of medium-sized saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Mactra stultorum, previously sometimes known as Mactra corallina, is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mactridae, the trough shells.
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.
Saxidomus nuttalli is a species of large edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Veneridae, the venus clams. Common names include California butterclam and Washington clam.
Mya truncata, common name the blunt gaper or truncate softshell, is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.
Chamelea gallina is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve in the family Veneridae, the venus clams.
Donax gouldii, common name the bean clam, is a species of small saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Donacidae.
Venus verrucosa, the warty venus, is a species of saltwater clam. It is a species of marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, sometimes collectively known as the venus clams.
Mulinia lateralis, the dwarf surf clam or coot clam, is a species of small saltwater clam, a bivalve mollusc in the family Mactridae. It occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Venus casina is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae, the venus clams. While the species is classified by World Register of Marine Species as Venus casina, the Catalogue of Life uses Circomphalus casina.
Hinge teeth are part of the anatomical structure of the inner surface of a bivalve shell, i.e. the shell of a bivalve mollusk. Bivalves by definition have two valves, which are joined together by a strong and flexible ligament situated on the hinge line at the dorsal edge of the shell. In life, the shell needs to be able to open slightly to allow the foot and siphons to protrude, and then close again, without the valves moving out of alignment with one another. To make this possible, in most cases the two valves are articulated using an arrangement of structures known as hinge teeth. Like the ligament, the hinge teeth are also situated along the hinge line of the shell.
Paratapes undulatus, common name undulate venus, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
