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Ensis

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Ensis
Ensiskils.jpg
Ensis sp.
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Adapedonta
Family: Pharidae
Genus: Ensis
Schumacher, 1817 [1]
Species

See text

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.[2] This term may also colloquially include members of the genus Solen. Ensis magnus are known as bendies due to their slightly curved shell.

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Genus

Genus

Genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.E.g. Panthera leo (lion) and Panthera onca (jaguar) are two species within the genus Panthera. Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae.

Clam

Clam

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.

Littoral zone

Littoral zone

The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark, to coastal areas that are permanently submerged — known as the foreshore — and the terms are often used interchangeably. However, the geographical meaning of littoral zone extends well beyond the intertidal zone to include all neritic waters within the bounds of continental shelves.

Family (biology)

Family (biology)

Family is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family".

Pharidae

Pharidae

Pharidae is a taxonomic family of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the order Adapedonta. This family of clams is related to the razor shells, a family which is considered to include Pharidae by some authorities.

Razor clam

Razor clam

Razor clam is a common name for long, narrow, saltwater clams, in the genera Ensis, Siliqua, Solecurtus, and Solen, including:Atlantic jackknife clam, Ensis directus Razor shell, Ensis arcuatus Siliqua alta, the northern or Arctic razor clam Siliqua costata, Atlantic razor clam Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula Gould's razor shell, Solen strictus Rosy razor clam, Solecurtus strigilatus

Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96-mile (154-kilometre) border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands.

Solen (bivalve)

Solen (bivalve)

Solen is a genus of marine bivalves in the family Solenidae.

Description

The shells are long, narrow, and parallel-sided. This shape resembles a closed, old-fashioned straight razor (a cut-throat razor), or a closed jackknife (pocket knife) and sometimes these clams are known as razor shells or jackknives. The shells in these species are fragile and can easily be damaged when digging for these clams.

Ecology

Ensis species live in clean sand on exposed beaches. They are capable of digging very rapidly; see the description under the Atlantic jackknife clam. Some clammers catch jackknives by pouring salt on the characteristic keyhole-shaped breathing holes. The clam then tries to escape the salt by coming up out of its hole, and at this point it is possible to gently grab the shell and pull it out of the ground.

Species

Thirteen species are currently recognised:[1]

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Ensis ensis

Ensis ensis

Ensis ensis, or the sword razor, is a razor clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pharidae. It lives buried in the sand and is found off the coasts of northwest Europe.

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as Carolus a Linné.

10th edition of Systema Naturae

10th edition of Systema Naturae

The 10th edition of Systema Naturae is a book written by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. In it, Linnaeus introduced binomial nomenclature for animals, something he had already done for plants in his 1753 publication of Species Plantarum.

Ensis macha

Ensis macha

Ensis macha, or navaja or navajuela as it is called in Spanish, is a bivalve mollusc of the family Pharidae. It inhabits the coasts of Peru, Chile and southern Argentina. It is different from the clam colloquially known as the macha in Chile.

Ensis minor

Ensis minor

Ensis minor, or the jackknife clam, is a long, smooth-shelled, burrowing clam found in the Atlantic Ocean. These clams are often collected for food. Ensis minor can grow up to 17 cm (6.7 in) in length. It is white, sometimes with reddish-brown markings.

Source: "Ensis", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2021, March 3rd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensis.

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References
  1. ^ a b S. Gofas (2010). P. Bouchet, S. Gofas & G. Rosenberg (ed.). "Ensis Schumacher, 1817". World Marine Mollusca database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  2. ^ Breen, Mike; Trevor Howe; Phil Copland (February 2011). "A REPORT ON ELECTRICAL FISHING FOR RAZOR CLAMS (ENSIS SP.) AND ITS LIKELY EFFECTS ON THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT" (PDF). Marine Scotland Science Report 03/11. Marine Scotland Science Marine Laboratory: 11. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

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