Pacific razor clam

Taxobox
name = Pacific razor clam


image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Bivalvia
ordo = Veneroida
familia = Cultellidae
genus = "Siliqua"
species = "S. patula"
binomial = "Siliqua patula"
binomial_authority = Dixon, 1788

The Pacific razor clam, "Siliqua patula", is a species of large edible marine bivalve mollusk in the family Cultellidae.

This species has an elongated oblong narrow shell, which ranges from 3 to 6¼ inches in length. It can be found along the Pacific West Coast from the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to Pismo Beach, California.

It is similar to the smaller Atlantic razor clam, "Siliqua costata", which is found on the American East Coast. (Another eastern species in the same family is sometimes also called a razor clam: "Ensis directus", but this is in a different genus, is not very similar, and can also be known as the Atlantic jackknife clam.)

Pacific razor clams are edible, although they may sometimes accumulate dangerous levels of domoic acid, a marine toxin.

External links

* [http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/shellfish/razorclams/index.asp Pacific razor clam info]
* [http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/shellfsh/razrclam.php]