Edible Mollusca of the Oregon Coast 183 
beaches south of Tillamook Head, a satisfactory cause for which 
has not been ascertained. It is very probable that many influences 
contributed to this depletion. The changing character of the 
beaches may account for its total extermination in certain locali- 
ties. Some beds of clams of cousiderable extent are known to 
have been either destroyed or forced to migrate into deeper water 
by the sand in which they lived being washed away by the action 
of the waves, while others may have been smothered by the sud- 
den addition of sand. Continual digging together with possible 
unfavorable spawning seasons may, in other instances, have 
depleted the species. 
That the razor clam has never been wholly extinct in recent 
years south of Tillamook Head is evidenced by the fact that a 
few individuals have been taken each year in scattered localities 
along the coast. Whether the clam is able to migrate and estab- 
lish itself in deep water below the line of low tide when unsuit- 
able conditions arise in the more shallow water of the littoral zone 
is at the present time unknown. 
During the summer of I9g19 it was apparent that the razor 
clam was increasing in numbers at certain points along the Oregon 
coast, and its reappearance was noted in several localities where 
it had not been observed for a number of years. Beaches south 
of Tillamook Head from which the razor clam has been taken in 
small numbers during the past two or three years are located 
as follows: north of Netarts Bay; within Netarts Bay; between 
Netarts Bay and Cape Lookout (Figure 1); north of Yaquina 
Head; Agate Beach; between Yaquina and Alsea Bays; north of 
Heceta Head and north of the mouth of the Siuslaw River. Pos- 
sibly the species may have been taken at other, unreported points. 
The next few years may see this valuable clam establishing itself 
in increasing numbers on certain beaches where it was once very 
abundant. In such localities it should be unmolested for a year 
or two in order that it may increase in such numbers as_ to 
assure a stability of the species. 
A state law prohibiting the shipment of clams from Clatsop 
County during the period from June 20th to September 2oth of 
each year has been in effect for a number of years. This restric- 
tion does not, in the opinion of the writer, and apparently was not 
[7] 
