Untitled Document

 
 
 
   
  Pictured above: An assortment of Littleneck and Cherrystone
clams recently fished from the Great South Bay by Sayville
bayman Steve Kuhn.
 


In the closing days of the 19th Century, the streets of Sayville and West Sayville were paved not with gold, but with oyster shells. "America's Friendliest Town" once reigned as the world's largest producer and shipper of oysters. That famed Blue Point Oyster population was decimated by a combination of overharvesting, contaminated runoff and the Great Hurricane of 1938, but an abundance of hard clams ultimately replaced the oysters and brought droves of baymen back in the 1960s and 1970s. It was at this time when hard clams filtered 40% of the entire volume of the Great South Bay each day. Today, due to overfishing and continued pollution, there are only enough hard clams to filter 1% of this vast body of water each day. Shellfish act like the filter in an aquarium —they help keep the water clean. When shellfish aren't there to filter the water, the quality can suffer for everyone and everything.

 
 
 
 



  • Characteristics
  • Habitat
  • Life Cycle
  • Fun Facts

Key Distinguishing Markings:

• Shell heavy, thick and strong
• Outside color grayish, sometimes tinged with brown or tan
• Shell sculpture of numerous concentric growth lines with smooth area near middle of shell
• Interior white, usually with a splotch of purple stain
• Interior margin of shell with crenulations (fine teeth)

Size:

• Adults can grow as large as 125 mm (5 in)
• Sexual maturity is reached at a shell length of (1 3/8-1 1/2 in)
• Various size groups have distinct common names: Button: <1 7/8 in, Littleneck: 1 7/8 – 2 1/8 in, Topneck: 2 1/8 – 2 3/8 in, Cherrystone: 2 3/8 – 3 1/8 in, Chowder: >3 1/8 in


Habitat
• Hard-shell clams occur mainly in bays and estuaries along the coast, from the intertidal zone to depths of about 18 m (60 ft)
• They are found in a variety of substrates, but prefer sandy bottoms, especially with shell
• The clams live buried only about 1 – 2 in below the bay bottom

Food Preferences
• Clams are filter-feeders, straining microscopic plants (algae) from the water column
• Because they are buried, clams use siphons, which act like snorkels sticking out of the bay bottom, to draw in water and food and expel wastes
• The food particles are filtered out by the gills of the clams and transported to the digestive tract by tiny hair-like cilia


Spawning and Development
 • Hard-shell clams are capable of spawning from May-October, when water temperatures rise above about 23°C (73°F)
• On average, females release about 7 million eggs per spawn
• After fertilization, shelled larvae develop. They swim in the water column for about 2 to 3 weeks, feeding on planktonic algae.
• Water currents distribute the larvae around the estuary.
• After they find a good location, the larvae undergo metamorphosis
• Eventually, at a size of about 7-9 mm, the juvenile clam loses its byssal threads and digs into the bottom.
• Although clams have a foot for digging, they remain in the same general location for the rest of their lives


• Hard-shell clams can live over 40 years.
• This species is enjoyed in a variety of culinary ways, such as chowders, clam bakes, and on the half shell. Clam chowder may have been the first American soup.
• People aren’t the only species that eats hard-shell clams. A wide variety of predators, including snails, crabs, shrimp, starfish, fish, and birds consume clams.
• Aside from food, Native Americans prized the shells of hard-shell clams for making wampum beads. Wampum was used as a form of money, hence the Latin name Mercenaria for this species. The shells were also used for making tools such as scrapers, knives, spoons, and hoes.


  

The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) is one of several different species or types of clam found in New York's marine waters. Though you may not recognize the term "hard clam," you probably know its market names: chowders are the largest, cherries or cherrystones are medium in size and littlenecks are the smallest hard clams. Littleneck, also referred to as necks, are the most comercially valuable of the three, traditionally consumed cooked or raw on the half shell. Other clams harvested in New York waters are surf clams, ocean quahogs and softshell clams or steamers.

The hard clam (or northern quahog) lives in shallow coastal bay waters in areas with a soft sandy bottom. The clam burrows into the bottom substrate leaving only the siphon exposed to pump water containing food and oxygen and to dispose of waste. Scientists estimate that hard clams reproduce in 1 to 2 years, and that the average number of years required to reach a commercial size is about 3 years in the New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts area. Actual growth rates are dependent on a number of factors like water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, the quality and quantity of available food, and other factors.



Source for hard clam information:
New York Seafood Council