Bent-nosed Clam
Macoma nasutaDescription 1
Like all members of family Tellinidae, this clam has a rounded shell with neither valve very flat nor very inflated, and the anterior and posterior ends are shaped differently. There are two adductor muscle scars of similar size on each valve. The umbones are near the middle of the dorsal side. It has no radial ribs. The hinge has a true hinge plate with two cardinal teeth on both valves. The hinge ligament is mostly external. The valves have a pallial sinus and a continuous pallial line. The valves gape only slightly, if at all, at the posterior end. The siphons are long and separate (photo). Macoma nasuta has a long hinge ligament, no lateral teeth on its hinge plate, is less than twice as long as high, and the posterior end of both valves is bent to the right (photo). The pallial sinuses are large, extend to beneath the anterior adductor muscle scars, and are very close to the pallial line ventral to them. Length to 11 cm but usually not more than 6 cm. Shells are chalky white and usually unstained, with some grayish-brown periostracum.
Habitat 2
Depth Range: Low intertidal to 50 m
Habitat: Buried in mud flats; also found in gravel, sand, or muddy clay
Sources and Credits
- (c) Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10455704
- (c) Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/10455707
