#4830 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs

West Atlantic Surfclam

🇳🇱 Reuzen-strandschelp ·Spisula solidissima

🐌 Snails, slugs & other molluscs 📍 outside Europe

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Smithsonian Environmental Research Center · CC BY 4.0
2. © Sequoia Janirella Wrens · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © j_hink · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © wsimmons · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © yasingi · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © gonzalomaik · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © ipat · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

what is it?

The Atlantic surf clam ( Spisula solidissima ), also called the bar clam , hen clam , skimmer , or simply sea clam , is a very large, edible, saltwater clam or marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mactridae. It is commonly found in the western Atlantic Ocean. 9 in) or more in length, it is much larger than the related surf clam, which resides in the eastern Atlantic waters off of Great Britain.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 8,205iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
8,205 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Lewis Weston Dillwyn in 1817 (209 years ago).