clam - Examples of clams

The common name for a variety of bivalved molluscs; includes the giant clams, soft-shelled clams, and venus clams. (Class: Pelecypoda.)

While the term "clam" has no taxonomic significance in biology, in general use, the term clam refers to a bivalve (a mollusk whose body is protected by two symmetrical shells) that is not an oyster, mussel, or a scallop, and that has a more-or-less oval shape, or alternately, to a freshwater mussel (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.). Clams are invertebrates, with shells divided into two pieces called valves. An exception to the oval shape is the razor clam, which has an elongate shell suggesting a straight razor.

In culinary use, clam most often refers to the hard clam (Taxonomically, Mercenaria mercenaria) but may refer to other species such as the soft-shell clam Mya arenaria.

Examples of clams

The Ark clams, family Arcidae The Hard clam or Northern Quahog: Mercenaria mercenaria The Soft clam: Mya arenaria The Surf clam: Spisula solidissima The Ocean quahog: Arctica islandica The Pacific Razor Clam: Siliqua patula The Giant clam: Tridacna gigas Asian or Asiatic clam: genus Corbicula Peppery furrow shell: Scrobicularia plana Pismo clam: Tivela stultorum (8 inch shell on display in the Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce) Geoduck clam: Panopea abrupta or Panope generosa (largest burrowing clam in the world) The Atlantic jackknife clam: Ensis directus

References:

^ Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bivalvia.html