Mya arenaria, with shell 0.4 mm. long, removed from attachment to seaweed (Enteromorpha) and showing the single, branched byssus-thread (b) arising from a byssus gland at base of foot (f). The filmy siphons (s) are shown protracted
Subject: Clams, Mya arenaria
Tag: Shellfish
Date 1901
Source/Photographer
English: Kellogg, James L. (1901) Observations on the Life-History of the Common Clam, Mya Arenaria, Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, vol. 19, 1899, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office
Author James Lawrence Kellogg (1866–1938)
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFMIB_40485_Mya_arenaria%2C_with_shell_04_mm_long%2C_removed_from_attachment_to_seaweed_%28Enteromorpha%29_and_showing_the_single%2C_branched_byssus.jpeg


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