Bivalves

Bivalves are creatures which live in double, hinged shells. They include some of the most delicious of all seafood – oysters, scallops and clams.

The name clam can be confusing, since it may be applied both in a general sense to whole groups of bivalves and in a more restricted way to certain species. The name mussel, in some other languages, has the same ambiguity.

The word clam is really a shortened form of clam-shell, a term which was derived from the verb clam, meaning shut. A clam-shell was a shell which could be closed tightly. On this basis almost all bivalves would be clams; although, paradoxically, the soft-shelled clam and the razor clam would not qualify, since they cannot close their shells completely. In practice the name clam is used as indicated in the catalogue entries which follow; and any confusion is inconsequential in everyday life. I mention the matter, however, because it is not uncommon to find people in Britain who suppose that the famous American clams are something quite apart from the European fauna, to be tasted only on the other side of the Atlantic or after opening a tin. The truth is that most of the American species exist in identical or similar form on the European side, but that they are rarely eaten in Britain or any of the countries to the north of France. The explanation of the greater enthusiasm shown by Canadians and Americans is perhaps partly to be sought in the experience of the early settlers in adopting some of the eating habits of the American Indians, who had not failed to take advantage of the rich harvest of clams on their shores.