A Guide to Clam Sizes

All About Clams

Clams are bivalve mollusks, meaning, they are a classification of sea creatures that have shells as their own means of body protection. Clams are usually used as food, as an addition to aquariums, and, way back in the past, as currency. Clams are even worshipped by some tribes in Peru in the past.

Clams, when bought commercially, typically has two classifications: the hard shelled clam and the soft shelled clam. The hard shelled clam are those commonly found in the saltier waters along tidal areas. Many of these can be found along the eastern coast lines of North America, and sometimes, these can even be found 60 feet below water level.

On the other hand, soft shelled clams are not as equipped as the hard shell cherrystone to endure high levels of salinity. Usually, they can be found in estuaries as well as in muddy tidal flats. Soft shelled clams are common in Canada as well as on the eastern coast of the United States, as well as in the Pacific Northwest. Even along the western coastlines of Britain, one will be able to see lots of soft shelled clams.

On Clam Sizes

When buying cherrystone, especially if they will be used for food, it is very important to be intimately familiar with clam sizes. That's because clams these days are largely categorized as per their sizes.

For instance, the hard shelled clams from the eastern coast, which are almost always called as per their size. There are four classifications of hard shelled as per their size. There are the cherry stones, the little necks, the chowder or quahog clams, and then, the button clams. The smallest among these types of clams is the button clam. The rule with hard shelled is that the smaller its size and the younger the clam, the tastier and the more tender its meat will be.

On the other hand, with soft shelled clams, there is commonly no classification at all. Basically the only time when soft shelled clams employ another name is when they are finally cooked by steaming, through which they will be now known as steamers. Aside from steaming soft shelled cherrystone, other wonderful ways of cooking them would be through frying or by using them as an ingredient in chowder dishes.

The Biggest Clam Ever

The biggest clam species is named as the giant clam, belonging to the species of the Tridacna gigas. These clams can reach to sizes of as much as four feet and they typically weigh up to 440 pounds.

But if we are going to ask just what is the size of the biggest clam ever caught in history, well, it is one that has a measurement of 53 inches and a weight of more than 500 pounds.