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Pacific razor clam

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Pacific razor clam
Razorclm.jpg
A live Pacific razor clam in water
RAZOR CLAMS ON QUINAULT BEACH. THE CLAMS ARE SOLD COMMERCIALLY BY THE QUINAULT INDIAN RESERVATION - NARA - 545082.jpg
A group of Siliqua patula dug from Quinault Beach, Washington state
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Adapedonta
Family: Pharidae
Genus: Siliqua
Species:
S. patula
Binomial name
Siliqua patula
(Dixon, 1788)
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Solen patulus Dixon, 1788
  • Solecurtus nuttallii (Conrad), 1837
  • Solen nuttallii Conrad, 1837

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

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Range

Pacific razor clams can be found along the Pacific West Coast of North America from the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to Pismo Beach, California. They inhabit sandy beaches in the intertidal zone down to a maximum water depth of about 9 m (30 ft).[3]

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West Coast of the United States

West Coast of the United States

The West Coast of the United States – also known as the Pacific Coast, the Pacific Seaboard, and the Western Seaboard – is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of California, Oregon, and Washington, but sometimes includes Alaska and Hawaii, especially by the United States Census Bureau as a U.S. geographic division.

North America

North America

North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as a part of North America geographically.

Aleutian Islands

Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands, also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller islands. Most of the Aleutian Islands belong to the U.S. state of Alaska, but some belong to the Russian federal subject of Kamchatka Krai. They form part of the Aleutian Arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying a land area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km2) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and act as a border between the Bering Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Crossing longitude 180°, at which point east and west longitude end, the archipelago contains both the westernmost part of the United States by longitude and the easternmost by longitude. The westernmost U.S. island in real terms, however, is Attu Island, west of which runs the International Date Line. While nearly all the archipelago is part of Alaska and is usually considered as being in the "Alaskan Bush", at the extreme western end, the small, geologically related Commander Islands belong to Russia.

Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is a U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., it borders British Columbia and the Yukon in Canada to the east, and it shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with the Russian Federation's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest.

Pismo Beach, California

Pismo Beach, California

Pismo Beach is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 8,072 at the 2020 census, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It is part of the Five Cities Area, a cluster of cities in that area of San Luis Obispo County. The "Five Cities" area historically is made up of Arroyo Grande, Grover City, Halcyon, Fair Oaks and Nipomo. Now most people refer to the Five Cities as Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Shell Beach, Arroyo Grande and Oceano.

Beach

Beach

A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. Sediments settle in different densities and structures, depending on the local wave action and weather, creating different textures, colors and gradients or layers of material.

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.

Description

This species has an elongated oval narrow shell, which ranges from 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 in) in length in the southern portion of its range, with individuals up to 28 cm (11 in) found in Alaska.[3] It is similar to the smaller Atlantic razor clam, Siliqua costata, which is found on the East Coast of the United States.

The name razor clam is also used for the Atlantic jackknife clam, Ensis directus. The Atlantic jackknife clam's genus, Ensis, is different than the Pacific razor clam's genus, Siliqua. However, they are both in the same family, Pharidae.

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Siliqua (bivalve)

Siliqua (bivalve)

Siliqua is a genus of saltwater razor clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Pharidae, the razor clams and jackknife clams.

East Coast of the United States

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline where the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. This region includes Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and the federal capital of Washington, D.C..

Atlantic jackknife clam

Atlantic jackknife clam

The Atlantic jackknife clam, Ensis leei, 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 or Razor shell.

Ensis

Ensis

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

Siliqua

Siliqua

The siliqua is the modern name given to small, thin, Roman silver coins produced in the 4th century A.D. and later. When the coins were in circulation, the Latin word siliqua was a unit, perhaps of weight defined by one late Roman writer as one twenty-fourth of a Roman solidus."Siliqua vicesima quarta pars solidi est, ab arbore, cuius semen est, vocabulum tenens."A siliqua is one-twentyfourth of a solidus [coin] and the name is taken from the seed of a tree.

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.

As food

Pacific razor clams are a highly desirable shellfish species and are collected by both commercial and recreational harvesters.[4] Razor clams, like other shellfish, may accumulate dangerous levels of the marine toxin domoic acid.[5] Harvesters should check current public health recommendations by marine authorities before collecting razor clams.

In the United States, razor clam harvesting is typically authorized by state officials several times a year.[6] Harvesters locate the clam by looking for a "show," which can present as either a hole or depression in the sand.[7] Some clams expose their siphons as the surf is receding making them far easier to spot; this behavior is called "necking".[8]

Razor clams are commonly battered and fried in butter. They can also be used to make clam chowder.

Source: "Pacific razor clam", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 8th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_razor_clam.

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References
  1. ^ Hiebert, T.C. (2015). "Siliqua patula The flat razor clam". In T.C. Hiebert; B.A. Butler & A.L. Shanks (eds.). Oregon Estuarine Invertebrates: Rudys' Illustrated Guide to Common Species (PDF) (3 ed.). University of Oregon Libraries and Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Charleston, OR. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  2. ^ Gary Rosenberg (2011). "Siliqua patula (Dixon, 1789)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Fish and Shellfish: Razor Clams". Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  4. ^ "Personal Use Clam Fishing:Razor Clam". Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "Fishing & Shellfishing: personal use razor clams". Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "How to Razor clam". Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "Digging Razor Clams". Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  8. ^ "Razor Clam Behavior". Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
External links

Media related to Siliqua patula (Pacific razor clam) at Wikimedia Commons

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