''Tivela stultorum'', also known as the Pismo clam, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of large, edible, saltwater

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

, a marine bivalve

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the family

Veneridae The Veneridae or venerids, common name: Venus clams, are a very large family of minute to large, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. Over 500 living species of venerid bivalves are known, most of which are edible, and many of which are ex ...

, the Venus clams. This species is native to the eastern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. As the name implies, the Pismo clam lives in

Pismo Beach, California Pismo Beach (Chumash: ''Pismuʔ'') is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 8,072 at the 2020 census, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It ...

. It has been found at least as far south as 300 miles south of the US–Mexico border in Baja California on the Pacific Ocean side, where strong surf sometimes washes ashore live clams. The

indigenous peoples of California The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. ...

used this species for food.

References

External links

Info page on Sealifebase.org
Clams Seafood in Native American cuisine Veneridae Bivalves described in 1823 {{Veneridae-stub