MOLLUSCA 



55 



son is seldom eaten in the south where it is most abundant. The 

 massiveness of its valves has given the name "hard," the shortness of 

 its siphons the name " little neck," and the name "quahog" or 

 "quahang," is said to be derived from an Indian name meaning 

 "tightly closed." The smaller specimens, which may bring $4 a 

 bushel, are served in restaurants as "little necks," to be eaten raw 

 from the half shell. Though sometimes found between tides, the 



FIG. 37. Long-neck clams dug from beneath one square foot of a flat. Such 

 a yield is unusual. The ruler is six inches long. (After J. L. Kellogg, Shellfish 

 Industries, from Report of Mass. Game and Fish Commission by J. R. Stevenson.) 



quahog usually occurs in greater numbers in deeper water and is 

 collected from such beds with a large rake with long, steel teeth and 

 a han lie as much as 60 feet long, so that their collection is very laborious. 

 The clam has few enemies in its natural habitat and is so very hardy 

 that it may be transported almost any distance, even in warm weather. 

 Like the oyster, many of the northern quahog beds were dredged 



