BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 



161 



TABLE 4 

 Atlantic Coast Production of Hard Clams * 



* Edible portions, exclusive of shells. 



t Includes yield from private grounds. 



$ Exclusive of ocean quahaugs — 1,311,900 pounds, valued at $109,387. 



tance, although Venus mortoni is the form commonly harvested in the 

 Florida waters (Fiedler, 1943). The range of the hard clam is from the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, where it was first reported in 

 Louisiana by Kellogg (1905). In North Carolina, clam beds are located 

 in the sounds near the inlets in relatively saline waters. 



In comparison to the oyster, the literature on hard clams is meagre. 

 Kellogg (1900-a, 1901, 1903) and Belding (1909, 1912) were among the 

 pioneer workers in the field. Since then there has been little published on 

 this form except for Loosanoff's studies on gonadal changes and spawning 

 (i937-a,b, 1939-a). Recently there has developed a stimulus for research 

 on hard and soft shell clams along the Atlantic coast as a result of appro- 

 priations from the Federal Government and of private grants. Little or no 

 scientific studies on hard clams or the clam industry in North Carolina 

 have been published. However, the known information on the biology of 

 the clam would hold true in general for clams native to North Carolfna 

 and would form a basis for future studies. 



NATURAL HISTORY 



The sexes in the hard clam, as in the eastern oyster, are separate; but 

 also as in the native eastern oyster, clams are capable of changing their 

 sex. Nearly all the young clams first develop as males, approximately 50 

 per cent becoming females during the second year (Loosanoff, 1943)- The 



