Get Our Extension

Atlantic jackknife clam

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Atlantic jackknife clam
Ensis directus.jpg
Empty shell of Ensis leei
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Adapedonta
Family: Pharidae
Genus: Ensis
Species:
E. leei
Binomial name
Ensis leei
M. Huber, 1843
Synonyms
  • Ensis directus Conrad, 1843
  • Ensis americanus Gould, 1870
Jackknife clam, cooked, valves open
Jackknife clam, cooked, valves open

The Atlantic jackknife clam, Ensis leei,[1] 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. The name "razor clam" is also used to refer to different species such as the Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula) or Razor shell (Ensis magnus).

Jackknife clams live in sand and mud and are found in intertidal or subtidal zones in bays and estuaries. Its streamlined shell and strong foot allow Jackknife clams to burrow quickly in wet sand. Jackknife clams are also able to swim by propelling jets of water out of their shells. The Jackknife clam gets its name from their shell's extremely sharp rim and the overall shape bearing a strong resemblance to an old fashioned straight razor. Beachgoers can be injured when the shell is accidentally stepped on.[2]

At low tide the position of the Atlantic jackknife clam is revealed by a keyhole-shaped opening in the sand; when the clam is disturbed, a small jet of water squirts from this opening as the clam starts to dig. This species' remarkable speed in digging can easily outstrip a human digger, making the clam difficult to catch. Amos Winter of MIT has studied razor clams and how they bury themselves, in part by using a repurposed ant farm and glass beads. [1]

Thus the species is not often commercially fished, even though it is widely regarded as a delicacy: in coastal Massachusetts, they are sought after in the summer by locals to make home cooked clam strips and most towns have ordinances regulating how many can be taken at a time.[3] The easiest way to catch jackknives is to pour salt on the characteristic breathing holes. The clam will try to escape the salt by coming up out of its hole, at which point you can gently grab the shell and pull it out of the ground.

Predators of Ensis directus other than humans include birds, such as the ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) in North America and the Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) in Europe, and the nemertean worm Cerebratulus lacteus.[4]

The Atlantic jackknife clam is now also found in northwestern Europe, where it is regarded as a harmful exotic species. It was first recorded in Europe in 1978/79, in the Elbe estuary.

The Atlantic jackknife clam has inspired a kind of biomimetic anchor in development by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adapting the clam's digging method for use in keeping undersea cables and potentially watercraft anchored securely.[5]

Discover more about Atlantic jackknife clam related topics

Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 km2 (41,100,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe, and Asia from the "New World" of the Americas in the European perception of the World.

Canada

Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. It is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. The country is sparsely inhabited, with most residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Introduced species

Introduced species

An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized. The process of human-caused introduction is distinguished from biological colonization, in which species spread to new areas through "natural" (non-human) means such as storms and rafting. The Latin expression neobiota captures the characteristic that these species are new biota to their environment in terms of established biological network relationships. Neobiota can further be divided into neozoa and neophyta (plants).

Europe

Europe

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.

Pacific razor clam

Pacific razor clam

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

Intertidal zone

Intertidal zone

The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide. This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as seastars, sea urchins, and many species of coral with regional differences in biodiversity. Sometimes it is referred to as the littoral zone or seashore, although those can be defined as a wider region.

Fried clams

Fried clams

Fried clams are clams dipped in milk, floured, and deep-fried.

Eurasian oystercatcher

Eurasian oystercatcher

The Eurasian oystercatcher also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or palaearctic oystercatcher, or just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with three races breeding in western Europe, central Eurosiberia, Kamchatka, China, and the western coast of Korea. No other oystercatcher occurs within this area. The extinct Canary Islands oystercatcher, formerly considered a distinct species, may have actually been an isolated subspecies or distinct population of the Eurasian oystercatcher.

Cerebratulus lacteus

Cerebratulus lacteus

Cerebratulus lacteus, the milky nemertean or milky ribbon worm, is a proboscis worm in the family Lineidae. This ribbon worm has a wide geographical range on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia, then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 kilometres northwest of Hamburg. Its total length is 1,094 km (680 mi).

Anchor

Anchor

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancoracode: lat promoted to code: la , which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυραcode: ell promoted to code: el .

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science.

Source: "Atlantic jackknife clam", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, January 10th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_jackknife_clam.

Enjoying Wikiz?

Enjoying Wikiz?

Get our FREE extension now!

See also
  • Jackknife clam which is also found in the Pacific Ocean.
  • Solen strictus Gould's razor shell found mostly in Japan.
  • Ensis Atlantic razor-shell crustaceans also known by similar names in Western Europe such as couteaux de mer (in France) and navajas (in Spain)
References
  1. ^ MolluscaBase (2018). "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Ensis leei M. Huber, 2015". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Solenidae & Cultellidae (Razor & Jackknife Clams)". shells.tricity.wsu.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-07-16. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  3. ^ "Town of Ipswich Massachusetts : Shellfish Rules & Regulations". Town.ipswich.ma.us. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  4. ^ McDermott, John J. (1976). "Predation of the Razor Clam Ensis directus by the Nemertean Worm Cerebratulus lacteus". Chesapeake Science. 17 (4): 299–301. doi:10.2307/1350520. JSTOR 1350520.
  5. ^ Morgan, James. "'RoboClam' could anchor submarines". BBC News. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  • The Long Island Shell Club, 1988. The Seashells of Long Island, the Long Island Shell Club Inc, New York State
External links

The content of this page is based on the Wikipedia article written by contributors..
The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence & the media files are available under their respective licenses; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization & is not affiliated to WikiZ.com.