Dictionary Definition
clam
Noun
1 burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or
mud
3 flesh of either hard-shell or soft-shell clams
v : gather clams, by digging in the sand by the ocean [also:
clamming, clammed]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /klæm/, /kl
Extensive Definition
A clam is a bivalve mollusk. The word "clam" has no
real taxonomic
significance in biology.
However in the United States the word can sometimes be used to mean
any bivalve mollusk. It more properly refers to a bivalve other
than an oyster, mussel, or scallop, and that has a
more-and-less oval shape, or a freshwater mussel.
The word clam is also very
often used to mean any one of many edible bivalve species which
live buried in mud or sand and communicates to the water by means
of a siphon, hence, "digging for clams" or clam
digging. Not all edible clams are round or oval in shape: the
razor
clam has an elongated shell whose shape suggests a straight
razor.
In October 2007 an Arctica
islandica clam caught off the coast of Iceland was
discovered to be at least 405 years old,and was declared the
world's oldest living animal by researchers from Bangor
University, see Ming
(clam).
Anatomy
A clam's shell consists of two valves which are connected by a hinge joint and a ligament that can be external or internal. Two adductor muscles close the shells. The clam has no head, and usually has no eyes, (scallops are a notable exception), but a clam does have kidneys, a heart, a mouth, and an anus. Clams have bilateral symmetry.Clams, like most mollusks,
also have
open circulatory systems, which means that their organs are
surrounded by watery blood that contains nutrients and oxygen.
Clams eat plankton by
filter
feeding, and they themselves are eaten by small sharks and squid.
In culinary use, the term
"clam" most often refers to the hard clam
Mercenaria
mercenaria but it may refer to several other species such as
the soft-shell
clam, Mya
arenaria. Clams can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, baked or
fried;
the method of preparation depends partly on size and species.
Clam
chowder is a popular soup in the U.S. and
Canada. In
Italy, clams are often an ingredient of mixed seafood dishes, or
are eaten together with pasta.
The Maxima clam
Tridacna
maxima, a species of giant clam, is
popular with saltwater aquarium
hobbyists.
The Moche people of
ancient Peru
worshiped the sea and its animals. They often depicted clams in
their art.
Examples of clams
- Ark clams, family Arcidae
- Nut clams or pointed nut clams, family Nuculidae
- Duck clams or trough shells, family Mactridae
- Marsh clams, family Corbiculidae
- File clams, family Limidae
- Hard clam or Northern Quahog: Mercenaria mercenaria
- Soft clam: Mya arenaria
- Surf clam: Spisula solidissima
- Ocean quahog: Arctica islandica
- Pacific razor clam: Siliqua patula
- 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)
- Atlantic jackknife clam: Ensis directus
See also
References
clam in Arabic: محار
ملزمي
clam in Min Nan:
Lâ-á
clam in Danish:
Musling
clam in German:
Muscheln
clam in Spanish:
Almeja
clam in French:
Palourde
clam in Galician: Ameixa,
molusco
clam in Italian:
Vongola
clam in Portuguese:
amêijoa
clam in Chinese:
蛤蜊
clam in Contenese:
蜆
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Chilopoda, Chordata, Dungeness crab,
Echiuroidea,
Ectoprocta, Entoprocta, Japanese crab,
Laconian, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea, Spartan, angle, bait the hook, blue point,
bob, coquillage, crab, crawdad, crawfish, crayfish, dap, dib, dibble, drive, fish, fly-fish, gig, go fishing, grig, guddle, jack, jacklight, jig, laconic, langouste, limpet, littleneck clam, lobster, mussel, net, oyster, periwinkle, prawn, quahog, scallop, seine, shellfish, shrimp, snail, soft-shell crab, spin, steamer, still-fish, torch, trawl, troll, whale, whelk