CLAM FISHERY OF P ASSAM AQUODDY BAY 



25 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 22a 



The names ' the clam ' and ' the common clam ' are also used for other species, where 

 Mya arenaria is not the most abundant. South of New York the common species 

 is Venus mercenaria ; north of Boston Mya arenaria is the commonest ; while between 

 New York and Boston they are about equally abundant, and there the first is distin- 

 guished as the ' hard clam ' or ' quahaug,' and the second is the ' long clam ' or ' squirt 

 clam.' Since the common names differ with the locality even along the same coast, it 

 is not surprising that they differ still more in different foreign countries as France, 

 Germany, &c., and it will be at once evident that if the one species can*be known in 

 all countries by the same name it will be an immense convenience. Hence it has long 

 been customary for zoologists of all countries to use a double Latin name for each 

 species. The generic name Mya has been derived from an old Greek word /^-D? or /j-ua, 

 the name of a species of mussel. By Pliny it was called myax (-acis). The specific 

 name arenaria is a Latin word meaning 'living in sand.' Another but smaller species 

 of mya (M. truncata) occurs on our coasts. Its shell has a blunt (truncated) posterior 

 end, and it ' gapes ' still more than our common species. A couple of smaller species 

 belonging to a different genus (Saxicava arctica and S. rugosa) but to the same family 

 (Myidse) are also to be found here. This family, together with the Pholadidse to which 

 the ship worm belongs, the Solenidse to which the razor-clam belongs, the Mactridse 

 containing the hard shell or hen clam, and the Veneridse including the round clam or 

 little-necked clam, all have a deep sinus in the pallial line as already described ; while a 

 number of other families, like the Cyprinida containing the sea clam or Black Quahog, 

 and the Cardiidae with the cockle, have no mantle sinus : their siphons are short and 

 not retractile. All those so far mentioned belong to the order Siphoniata, in contra- 

 distinction to which must be named the Asiphoniata, a large order comprising such 

 important families as the Unionidse (our fresh water clams), the Mytilidse (the edible 

 mussel and horse mussel), the Pectinidse (scallops) and Ostreidse (oysters), none of 

 which have siphons, and their mantles are quite open below. Both orders belong to 

 the class Lamellibranchiata (Bivalvia or Pelecypoda), which along with the classes 

 Gasteropoda (slugs, snails) and Cephalopoda (squid, devil fish) are grouped under the 

 great sub-kingdom of animals called the Mollusca. 



OCCURRENCE. 



* You shal scarce find any Baye, Shallow Shore or Cove of sand, wyere you may not take many 

 Clampes. ' — Captain John Smith, 1616. 



Geologically, the clam Mya arenaria occurred as far back as in the Miocene period. 

 Geographically, it has a wide distribution in the northern parts of both Pacific and Atlan- 

 tic oceans. In the former it is to be found up the west coast of Alaska and down the 

 eastern coast of Asia to China and Japan. In the Atlantic it extends from North 

 Carolina to the Artie ocean. In Northern Europe it is most abundant in the North 

 and Baltic seas and extends south to France. It is scarce south of Cape Hatteras but 

 abundant from New Jersey northward. On our own coast it has been reported from 

 the Bay of Fundy, Passamaquoddy Bay, Annapolis Basin, Halifax Harbour, Prince 

 Edward Island, Shediac, Bay Chaleur. It undoubtedly occurs, in suitable places, round 

 the entire coast of our eastern maritime provinces. Such places are the more sheltered 

 parts of the coast, where waves cannot carry away their banks or heap sand above their 

 burrows. 



Passamaquoddy Bay, sheltered by the numerous islands that separate it from the 

 Bay of Fundy, is a particularly suitable location. Here there is but a small part of the 

 coast with precipitous banks, but a great part consists of gently slanting beaches where 

 the tide recedes 200 to 400 yards or more. Such beaches are to be found on the coast 

 of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, in proximity to St. Andrew's, St. Andrew's 

 Harbour, Navy Island, Chamcook Harbour, &c., where the clam diggers mostly work. 

 But clams occur all round the bay, on both the mainland and at many places on the 

 islands. The littoral distribution of Mya arenaria varies with the conditions. In some 

 places it is to be found near high water mark, while it is stated to occur at a depth of 

 more than 100 fathoms. Speaking generally, on such beaches as I have mentioned, it ig 



