Pacific razor clam
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| Pacific razor clam | ||||||||||||||
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| Siliqua patula Dixon, 1788 |
The Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula, is a species of large edible marine bivalve mollusk in the family Cultellidae.
This species has an elongated oblong narrow shell, which ranges from 3 to 6ΒΌ inches in length. It can be found along the Pacific West Coast from the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to Pismo Beach, California.
It is similar to the smaller Atlantic razor clam, Siliqua costata, which is found on the American East Coast. (Another eastern species in the same family is sometimes also called a razor clam, Ensis directus, but this is in a different genus, is not very similar, and is also known as the Atlantic jackknife clam.)
Pacific razor clams are edible, although they may sometimes accumulate dangerous levels of domoic acid, a marine toxin.
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