Kodiak Island Clams
![[Kodiak Island Clams, misclams.jpg=61KB]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080920142318im_/http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/kodiak/images/photo/misclams.jpg)
Clams are molluscs, and the clams pictured above were all dug from the beaches of Kodiak Island.
From the top, clockwise, are the Pacific littleneck clam, Protothaca
staminea; the truncated softshell clam, Mya truncata; the eastern
softshell clam, Mya arenaria; Nuttall cockle, Clinocardium nuttallii;
and the butter clam, Saxidomus gigantea. The Pacific littleneck
and and eastern softshell clams are intertidal species, whereas the others are
in the intertidal as well as subtidal zones. Butter and littleneck clams are
popular for subsistence or home use and are harvested commercially. The
eastern softshell clam is not indigenous to the West Coast, having been
introduced from the Atlantic. Most of these species range from the
Bering Sea, Norton Sound, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to California
and Baja, Mexico, except the truncated softshell clam, which ranges from the
Beaufort Sea to Washington State. Clams burrow in the substrate, some
shallower than others depending on their siphon length. The Nuttall cockle and
the littleneck are both shallow burrowers, barely covered with sand or gravel;
the butter clam burrows to a depth of 12 inches. Predators include the sea
stars, Dungeness crab, octopus, and sea otters.
Digital photo by Dr. Bradley Stevens. References (a complete list) in the text include: O'Clair (1998), Gotshall (1994), Kessler (1985) or Barr (1983).
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