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Razor shell

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Razor shell
Ensiskils.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Adapedonta
Superfamily: Solenoidea
Family: Pharidae
Genus: Ensis
Species:
E. magnus
Binomial name
Ensis magnus
Synonyms[1]
  • Ensis arcuatus (Jeffreys, 1865)
  • Ensis arcuatus var. ensoides Van Urk, 1964
  • Ensis arcuatus var. norvegica Van Urk, 1964
  • Solen siliqua var. arcuata Jeffreys, 1865

The razor shell, Ensis magnus, also called razor clam, razor fish[2] or spoot (colloquially), is a bivalve of the family Pharidae. It is found on sandy beaches in Canada and northern Europe (south to the Bay of Biscay) .

In some locations, the common name "razor shell" is also used to refer to members of the family Solenidae, including species of the genera Ensis and Solen,[3] by some taxonomic classifications which include the family Pharidae within the family Solenidae. It prefers coarser sand than its relatives E. ensis and E. siliqua.

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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.

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.

Bay of Biscay

Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay, known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay, and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony, is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal. The south area of the Bay of Biscay that washes over the northern coast of Spain is known locally as the Cantabrian Sea.

Common name

Common name

In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism, which is Latinized. A common name is sometimes frequently used, but that is not always the case.

Solenidae

Solenidae

Solenidae, commonly called "razor shells", is a family of marine bivalve molluscs in the unassigned Euheterodonta.

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.

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.

Description

It is known for its elongated, rectangular shape, which presents a similarity to the straight razor, hence its name. The razor shell has been known to reach 23 centimetres (9 in)[4] in length. The dorsal margin is straight while the ventral margin is curved. It can easily be confused with the slightly shorter 15 centimetres (6 in) and more curved E. ensis (in which both front and back are curved in parallel).

Razor shells have a fragile shell, with open ends. The shell is smooth on the outside and whitish in color, with vertical and horizontal reddish-brown or purplish-brown markings separated by a diagonal line. The periostracum is olive-green. The inner surface is white with a purple tinge and the foot is creamy white with brown lines.

Habits

The razor shell lives under the sand, using its powerful foot to dig to a safe depth. Its digging activity comprises six stages, repeated cyclically. A digging cycle involves integration of the muscular foot (which takes up a large part of the body) with the opening and closing of the valve and one end. The foot is inflated hydraulically, extending down into the sand and anchoring the animal. Deflation of the foot then draws the shell down. The razor shell also squirts water down into the sand, removing loose sand from its path. The foot is thought to exert a pressure of about 196 kilopascals (2.00 kgf/cm2; 28.4 psi).[5]

Its presence is revealed by a keyhole-shaped hole in the sand, made by its siphons during suspension feeding for plankton.

Razor clams can grow up to eight inches long, but are typically only four to six inches. Razor clams are filter feeders, meaning they strain food particles from the water around them. They primarily eat microscopic algae, but can also consume small crustaceans and other organic matter.[6]

Reproduction

In the razor shell sexual development is highly synchronous. During the summer, they are in the sexual rest stage, and gametogenesis begins at the start of autumn. In winter and spring consecutive spawns take place, interrupted by gonadal restoration periods.[7]

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Straight razor

Straight razor

A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors. The predecessors of the modern straight razors include bronze razors, with cutting edges and fixed handles, produced by craftsmen from Ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom. Solid gold and copper razors were also found in Ancient Egyptian tombs dating back to the 4th millennium BC.

Periostracum

Periostracum

The periostracum is a thin, organic coating that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and bivalves, but it is also found in cephalopods such as Allonautilus scrobiculatus. The periostracum is an integral part of the shell, and it forms as the shell forms, along with the other shell layers. The periostracum is used to protect the organism from corrosion.

Siphon (mollusc)

Siphon (mollusc)

A siphon is an anatomical structure which is part of the body of aquatic molluscs in three classes: Gastropoda, Bivalvia and Cephalopoda.

Plankton

Plankton

Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water that are unable to propel themselves against a current. The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucial source of food to many small and large aquatic organisms, such as bivalves, fish and whales.

Algae

Algae

Algae is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular microalgae, such as Chlorella, Prototheca and the diatoms, to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp, a large brown alga which may grow up to 50 metres (160 ft) in length. Most are aquatic and autotrophic and lack many of the distinct cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem and phloem that are found in land plants. The largest and most complex marine algae are called seaweeds, while the most complex freshwater forms are the Charophyta, a division of green algae which includes, for example, Spirogyra and stoneworts.

Crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can be treated as a subphylum under the clade Mandibulata. It is now well accepted that the hexapods emerged deep in the Crustacean group, with the completed group referred to as Pancrustacea. Some crustaceans are more closely related to insects and the other hexapods than they are to certain other crustaceans.

Gametogenesis

Gametogenesis

Gametogenesis is a biological process by which diploid or haploid precursor cells undergo cell division and differentiation to form mature haploid gametes. Depending on the biological life cycle of the organism, gametogenesis occurs by meiotic division of diploid gametocytes into various gametes, or by mitosis. For example, plants produce gametes through mitosis in gametophytes. The gametophytes grow from haploid spores after sporic meiosis. The existence of a multicellular, haploid phase in the life cycle between meiosis and gametogenesis is also referred to as alternation of generations.

Vulnerability

A Chinese dish of stir-fried razor clams
A Chinese dish of stir-fried razor clams

Many intertidal populations of razor shell have declined as a result of overfishing; the species is in decline in many areas.

Razor shells are very sensitive to minor perturbations in, for instance, salinity and temperature. They will emerge from their burrows if salt or brine is poured in.[8]

Disease

Razor shells have been found to be vulnerable to germinoma, a variety of tumour.[7]

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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.

Overfishing

Overfishing

Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally, resulting in the species becoming increasingly underpopulated in that area. Overfishing can occur in water bodies of any sizes, such as ponds, wetlands, rivers, lakes or oceans, and can result in resource depletion, reduced biological growth rates and low biomass levels. Sustained overfishing can lead to critical depensation, where the fish population is no longer able to sustain itself. Some forms of overfishing, such as the overfishing of sharks, has led to the upset of entire marine ecosystems. Types of overfishing include: growth overfishing, recruitment overfishing, ecosystem overfishing.

Salinity

Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water. It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg.

Temperature

Temperature

Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer.

Brine

Brine

Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt in water. In diverse contexts, brine may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% up to about 26%. Brine forms naturally due to evaporation of ground saline water but it is also generated in the mining of sodium chloride. Brine is used for food processing and cooking, for de-icing of roads and other structures, and in a number of technological processes. It is also a by-product of many industrial processes, such as desalination, so it requires wastewater treatment for proper disposal or further utilization.

Germinoma

Germinoma

A germinoma is a type of germ-cell tumor, which is not differentiated upon examination. It may be benign or malignant.

Source: "Razor shell", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 8th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_shell.

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References
  1. ^ "Ensis magnus Schumacher, 1817". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  2. ^ "Razor Fish Recipes". Simple Chinese Food. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Large specimen.
  5. ^ E. R. Trueman (1967). "The dynamics of burrowing in Ensis (Bivalvia)". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 166 (1005): 459–476. Bibcode:1967RSPSB.166..459T. doi:10.1098/rspb.1967.0007. JSTOR 75643. PMID 24796040. S2CID 46008789.
  6. ^ https://husfarm.com/product/razor-clam
  7. ^ a b Susana Darriba, Fuencisla San Juan & Alejandro Guerra (2004). "Reproductive cycle of the razor clam Ensis arcuatus (Jeffreys, 1865) in northwest Spain and its relation to environmental conditions". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 311 (1): 101–115. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2004.05.004.
  8. ^ "Emerging from their burrows". Archived from the original on 2010-10-20. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
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