Editing Clam (section)

{{Short description|Common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Refimprove|date=November 2021}}
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[[File:Clams on Sandy Hook beaches - panoramio.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A clam shell (species ''[[Spisula solidissima]]'') at [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey]]]]

'''Clam''' is a [[common name]] for several kinds of [[Bivalvia|bivalve]] [[Mollusca|mollusc]]. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed [[edible]] and live as [[infauna]], spending most of their [[Life|lives]] halfway buried in the [[sand]] of the [[sea floor]] or [[riverbeds]]. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot.<ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/clam|title=Clam|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=2016}}</ref> They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in [[salt water]] they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the [[turbidity]] of the water required varies with [[species]] and location; the greatest diversity of these is in [[North America]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wildbunnysland.com/can-you-eat-freshwater-clams/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728153233/https://www.wildbunnysland.com/can-you-eat-freshwater-clams/|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 July 2020|title=Can You Eat Freshwater Clams in the Nature?|date=29 April 2019}}<br>- {{Cite web|url = http://www.eattheweeds.com/musseling-in/|title = Musseling in|date = August 2012}}<br>- {{Cite web|url=https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/clams/mussels.html|title=USFWS: America's Mussels}}</ref>

Clams in the culinary sense do not live attached to a substrate (whereas [[oyster]]s and [[mussel]]s do) and do not live near the bottom (whereas [[scallop]]s do). In culinary usage, clams are commonly eaten marine bivalves, as in [[clam digging]] and the resulting soup, [[clam chowder]]. Many edible clams such as [[Grooved carpet shell|palourde clam]]s are ovoid or triangular;<ref>{{cite web|title=Clams recipes|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/clams|website=BBC Food|access-date=23 February 2017}}</ref> however, [[razor clam]]s have an elongated parallel-sided shell, suggesting an old-fashioned straight razor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/clam|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225053230/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/clam|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 February 2017|title=Clam|website=Lexico|publisher=Oxford}}</ref>

Some clams have life cycles of only one year, whilst at least [[Ming (clam)|one]] has been aged to more than 500 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ming-the-clam-worlds-oldest-animal-was-actually-507-years-old/|title=Ming the Clam, World's Oldest Animal, Was Actually 507 Years Old|work=CBS News|author=Danielle Elliot|date=14 November 2013|access-date=15 November 2013|archive-date=20 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120153638/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57612409/ming-the-clam-worlds-oldest-animal-was-actually-507-years-old/|url-status=live}}</ref> All clams have two calcareous shells or [[valve (mollusc)|valves]] joined near a hinge with a flexible ligament and all are [[filter feeder]]s.