Animalia > Mollusca > Bivalvia > Myoida > Myoidea > Myidae > Mya > Mya arenaria
 

Mya arenaria (Clam; Gaper; Long clam; Longneck; Mananose; Old maid; Sandgaper; Soft clam; Soft-shell clam; softshell; softshell clam; Almeja de can; Almeja de río; Bec de jars; Cappa molle; Clame da areia; Clauque; Große Sandklaffmuschel; Grote strandgaper; Mye; Sandklaffmuschel; Sandmuschel; Sandmusling; Schlickauster; Strandauster)

Synonyms: Mya acuta; Mya acuta mercenaria; Mya alba; Mya communis; Mya corpulenta; Mya declivis; Mya elongata; Mya hemphilli; Mya japonica; Mya lata; Mya oonogai; Sphenia ovoidea

Wikipedia Abstract

Soft-shell clams, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams" are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae. These clams live buried in the mud on tidal mudflats. They are well known as a food item on the coast of New England in the Western Atlantic Ocean, however the range extends much farther north to Canada and south to the Southern states.
View Wikipedia Record: Mya arenaria

Invasive Species

Mya arenaria (soft shell clam) has a large global distribution, largely due to its adaptability to varying environments. Impacts of Mya arenaria range from habitat alteration to massive bioaccumulation.
View ISSG Record: Mya arenaria

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Map Climate Land Use
SPA Pommersche Bucht 495241 Germany    

Ecosystems

Prey / Diet

Coscinodiscus radiatus[1]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Macoma balthica (Baltic macoma)1
Mytilus edulis (Blue mussel)1

Predators

Calidris alpina (Dunlin)[2]
Carcinus maenas (green crab)[3]
Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Common Black-headed Gull)[1]
Limnodromus scolopaceus (Long-billed Dowitcher)[2]
Limulus polyphemus (horseshoe crab)[4]
Melanitta perspicillata (Surf Scoter)[2]
Somateria mollissima (Common Eider)[1]

Distribution

East Pacific; North America; Western Atlantic Ocean;

External References

Photos

Citations

Species recognized by , 21-Dec-2004, WoRMS Mollusca: World Marine Mollusca database in Catalog of Life 2011
Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Energy flow of a boreal intertidal ecosystem, the Sylt-Rømø Bight, Dan Baird, Harald Asmus, Ragnhild Asmus, Mar Ecol Prog Ser 279: 45–61, 2004 ♦ 2Food Web Relationships of Northern Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca : a Synthesis of the Available Knowledge, Charles A. Simenstad, Bruce S. Miller, Carl F. Nyblade, Kathleen Thornburgh, and Lewis J. Bledsoe, EPA-600 7-29-259 September 1979 ♦ 3Elner, R. W. (1981). Diet of green crab Carcinus maenas (L.) from Port Hebert, southwestern Nova Scotia., 1(1), 89-94. ♦ 4Diet and food preferences of the adult horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus in Delaware Bay, New Jersey, USA, M. L. Botton, Marine Biology 81, 199-207 (1984)
Invasive Status provided by Global Invasive Species Database Downloaded on 10 May 2011.
Protected Areas provided by Natura 2000, UK data: © Crown copyright and database right [2010] All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100017955
Images provided by Google Image Search
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Weather provided by NOAA METAR Data Access