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BENT-NOSED CLAM 



MacoiiKi iiasiita Conrad 

 Plate 11, figure 3; plate 12, figures 1 and 2 



Other name — IMud elam. 



Description — The bent-nosed elani, to use the most distinctive 

 eonunon name of Maconia nasufa, is one of the smaller species, seldom 

 exceeding two and a half inches in length and commonly much smaller. 

 The general shape is oval, the siphonate end being, however, somewhat 

 elongated and bent markedly to the right, a distinctive feature shared 

 only by Tellina hodegensis among the common bivalves. The color is 

 whitish though a variable amount of gray periostracum gives it a 

 darker cast which is often accentuated by black or brownish stains 

 from the mud in which the particular specimen may have been found. 

 The valves are light and thin especially at the edges. The siphons 

 are separate and very long. 



Habitat and habits — This is the most common and widely dis- 

 tributed species in California. It is typically a form of the sheltered 

 muddy bays and though it will invade sandy bottom to a certain 

 extent, it is not found in gravel nor on exposed beaches. Practically 

 every bay, lagoon or slough visited yielded the bent-nosed clam. It is 

 a hardy species, flourishing under conditions speedily fatal to many 

 other forms. This is particularly true of stale or brackish water which 

 is encountered in small lagoons with little, or only intermittent, com- 

 munication with the ocean, and its wide distribution undoubtedly 

 depends on this hardiness. 



The most favorable location is in fine mud little exposed to waves or 

 current and it is regularly found in mud too soft for any other species. 

 Here it lies at a depth of six or eight inches on the left side, the bend 

 of the siphonate end thus corresponding to the habitual bend of the 

 siphons when extended to the surface. Tlie two siphons are of 

 unequal length, the inhalent being much the longer and larger (see 

 plate 11, figure 3.) Often in digging the siphons are severed and as 

 they retain their power of motion for some time they resemlile pale 

 yellow worms in the mud. 



Use — Though so generally abundant their use as food was not 

 observed in any of the localities visited. In the "kitchen middins" 

 of the Indians their shells are usually the most common of all species, 

 showing them to have been a favorite form, perhaps because so easily 

 obtained. They were formerly marketed in San Francisco by the 

 Chinese. The following interesting account of the methods employed 

 is taken from an article liy the late John P. Fisher appearing in Cali- 

 fornia Fisli and Game for October, 1916 (p. 209) : 



