The Atlantic jackknife clam, ''Ensis leei'', also known as the bamboo clam, American jackknife clam or razor clam, is a large edible marine bivalve mollusc found on the North American

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast, from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The species has also been introduced to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The name "

razor clam Razor clam is a common name for long, narrow, saltwater clams (which resemble a closed straight razor in shape), in the genera ''Ensis'', '' Siliqua'', ''Solecurtus'', and '' Solen'', including: * Atlantic jackknife clam, ''Ensis directus'' *Razor ...

" is also used to refer to different species such as the

Pacific razor clam The Pacific razor clam, ''Siliqua patula'', is a species of large marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pharidae. Range Pacific razor clams can be found along the Pacific West Coast of North America from the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska, t ...

(''Siliqua patula)'' or Razor shell (''Ensis magnus)''. Jackknife clams live in sand and mud and are found in

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

or subtidal zones in bays and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

. Its streamlined shell and strong foot allow Jackknife clams to burrow quickly in wet sand. Jackknife clams are also able to swim by propelling jets of water out of their shells. The Jackknife clam gets its name from their shell's extremely sharp rim and the overall shape bearing a strong resemblance to an old fashioned straight razor. Beachgoers can be injured when the shell is accidentally stepped on. At low tide the position of the Atlantic jackknife clam is revealed by a keyhole-shaped opening in the sand; when the clam is disturbed, a small jet of water squirts from this opening as the clam starts to dig. This species' remarkable speed in digging can easily outstrip a human digger, making the clam difficult to catch. Amos Winter of MIT has studied razor clams and how they bury themselves, in part by using a repurposed ant farm and glass beads

Thus the species is not often commercially fished, even though it is widely regarded as a delicacy: in coastal Massachusetts, they are sought after in the summer by locals to make home cooked fried clams, clam strips and most towns have ordinances regulating how many can be taken at a time. The easiest way to catch jackknives is to pour salt on the characteristic breathing holes. The clam will try to escape the salt by coming up out of its hole, at which point you can gently grab the shell and pull it out of the ground. Predators of ''Ensis directus'' other than humans include birds, such as the

ring-billed gull The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River. Description ...

(''Larus delawarensis'') in North America and the

Eurasian oystercatcher The Eurasian oystercatcher (''Haematopus ostralegus'') also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or palaearctic oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widesp ...

(''Haematopus ostralegus'') in Europe, and the

nemertean Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms, consisting of 1300 known species. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many ...

worm ''

Cerebratulus lacteus ''Cerebratulus lacteus'', the milky nemertean or milky ribbon worm, is a proboscis worm in the family Lineidae. This ribbon worm has a wide geographical range on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean. Description ''Cerebratulus lacteus'' gro ...

''. The Atlantic jackknife clam is now also found in northwestern Europe, where it is regarded as a harmful

exotic species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. It was first recorded in Europe in 1978/79, in the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

estuary. The Atlantic jackknife clam has inspired a kind of

biomimetic Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

in development by a team at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, adapting the clam's digging method for use in keeping

undersea cable Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the ...

s and potentially watercraft anchored securely.

References

* The Long Island Shell Club, 1988. ''The Seashells of Long Island'', the Long Island Shell Club Inc, New York State

External links

Animal Diversity Web: "Ensis directus"
— ''Camponelli, K. 2001 . accessed August 27, 2006''
''Early life history characteristics of the razor clam (''Ensis directus'') and the moonsnails (''Euspira'' spp.) with applications to fisheries and aquaculture''
— ''Kenchington, E., R. Duggan and T. Riddell. 1998. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2223: vii + 32 pgs.''
Gollasch Consulting. Exotics Across the Ocean - EU Concerted Action. ''Ensis directus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q378093 Pharidae Marine molluscs of North America Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Northeastern United States Fauna of the Southeastern United States Bivalves described in 1843

See also

References

External links