Artist Jacques Burkhardt
Title Mya arenaria (Nahant, Mass., 1864) (Clam plus 3 cross sections)
Taxonomic Classification: Animalia--Mya arenaria. Common Name: Sand gaper. Common Name: Soft-shelled clam
Date 1864-??-??
Medium pencil on paper
Inscriptions JB. Nahant 1864--Burkhardt, Jacques. Mya arenaria--Agassiz, Louis
Source/Photographer Harvard CURIOSity Collection - Jacques Burkhardt Scientific Drawings: http://id.lib.harvard.edu/curiosity/jacques-burkhardt-scientific-drawings/33-bAg_168.60.1__17_
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMya_arenaria_%28Nahant%2C_Mass.%2C_1864%29_%28Clam_plus_3_cross_sections%29.jpg


Mya arenaria
- common names: sand gaper, soft-shell clam, softshells, steamer clam, Ipswich clam, Essex clam

Sand gaper (Mya arenaria) is a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae. It has a thin and fragile shell that gapes open at one end, and long siphons that can extend up to the surface of the sediment where it lives. Sand gapers are found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is a popular food item in some regions, especially in New England, where it is often steamed or fried.

Order: Myida
Superfamily: Myoidea
Family: Myidae
Genus: Mya
Species: Mya arenaria Linnaeus, 1758