154 New York State Museum 



Little Neck Clam or Quahaug, is the common hard- 

 shelled clam of our markets. It ranges from Yucatan to 

 Nova Scotia, but is common only from the Carolinas to 

 Cape Cod. It is most abundant in shallow bays and estu- 

 aries where it lives below low-tide level in muddy bot- 

 toms. In open, deeper bays and along the open ocean it 

 is found in sandy stations. The shell has a grayish or dull 

 brownish gray skin and shows quite regular and deep 

 rings of growth. The Surf Clam or Hen Clam (Mactra 

 solidissima) lives in sand near the margin of the water, 

 often upon an exposed, open coast. It is one of the com- 

 monest, if not the very commonest, of the large bivalves 

 found on the beaches of New England, Long Island and 

 New Jersey, perhaps the first shell a collector will find 

 on an open sandy beach north of Cape Hatteras. It lives 

 from low water to a depth of about 60 feet. The shell is 

 heavy, four inches wide by six or seven inches long, with 

 a horny, light brown skin. This clam can dig rapidly, 

 but it lives close to the surface and is often cast ashore 

 by storms. It ranges from the Gulf of Mexico to Labra- 

 dor. The Sand-bar Clam {Siliqua costata) lives within 

 loose sandy beaches and bars in shallow water below low- 

 tide level, and it is found only where the ocean water is 

 pure. It ranges from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas. The 

 shell is an inch and a quarter long by three-quarters of 

 an inch wide and is covered with a rich brown skin. The 

 foot is very powerful, but it burrows only a short dis- 

 tance beneath the sand. Occasionally it comes to the 

 surface and skips about by means of the powerful foot 

 and the flapping motion of the valves. The Swimming 

 Clam (Solenomya velum) burrows into both sandy and 

 muddy beaches and like the Razor Clam and Sand-bar 

 Clam prefers pure ocean water. The foot of this clam 



