Dan Killam
@dantheclamman.blog
Eclamgelist. He/him
If you like #clamFacts check out my blog (profile name)
If you like #clamFacts check out my blog (profile name)
Different bivalves have different salinity tolerances! In SF Bay, CA mussels are exclusively marine, and don't get farther than Central Bay. Eastern ribbed mussels and our native Olympia oyster are champs and live in a variety of salinities! Data from @inaturalist.bsky.social (317)
November 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Different bivalves have different salinity tolerances! In SF Bay, CA mussels are exclusively marine, and don't get farther than Central Bay. Eastern ribbed mussels and our native Olympia oyster are champs and live in a variety of salinities! Data from @inaturalist.bsky.social (317)
Reminder: Wednesday @ 12 Pacific time I'll be joining my fave mag @baynature.org for a talk about salinity in SF Bay! 🧂🌊 Register at this link: free for members or $5 for nonmembers ! baynature.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/ne...
November 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reminder: Wednesday @ 12 Pacific time I'll be joining my fave mag @baynature.org for a talk about salinity in SF Bay! 🧂🌊 Register at this link: free for members or $5 for nonmembers ! baynature.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/ne...
These are my snails. They are good boys. And excellent comic relief. Pomacea bridgesii
November 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
These are my snails. They are good boys. And excellent comic relief. Pomacea bridgesii
Lunule means little moon. The lunule is another region on the rear of the shell, opposite from the escutcheon. It is pretty important for taxonomic ID of many bivalves, but it's not well understood what its function is! (316)
November 5, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Lunule means little moon. The lunule is another region on the rear of the shell, opposite from the escutcheon. It is pretty important for taxonomic ID of many bivalves, but it's not well understood what its function is! (316)
An escutcheon is a shield on which a coat of arms is displayed. For a clam, the escutcheon is the often recessed area around the shell ligament (the tendon-like hinge). We're getting deep into clam jargon in this thread, feel free to use at your next party to impress your friends (315)
November 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
An escutcheon is a shield on which a coat of arms is displayed. For a clam, the escutcheon is the often recessed area around the shell ligament (the tendon-like hinge). We're getting deep into clam jargon in this thread, feel free to use at your next party to impress your friends (315)
A reef is a sedimentary structure supported by the skeletons of living organisms. Corals are the most famous reef builders, but oysters build them too! In the Cretaceous and other time intervals of the past, bivalves actually rivaled corals globally in reef area and biomass! (313)
October 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
A reef is a sedimentary structure supported by the skeletons of living organisms. Corals are the most famous reef builders, but oysters build them too! In the Cretaceous and other time intervals of the past, bivalves actually rivaled corals globally in reef area and biomass! (313)
Shipworms are actually a common food clam, particularly in Asia! Some cultures throw logs or stumps in the water to farm them! Researchers suggest they could someday make for a sustainable market in the West, as they can be cooked similarly to calamari (312) nautil.us/naked-clams-...
October 30, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Shipworms are actually a common food clam, particularly in Asia! Some cultures throw logs or stumps in the water to farm them! Researchers suggest they could someday make for a sustainable market in the West, as they can be cooked similarly to calamari (312) nautil.us/naked-clams-...
Bivalve shells are often colored, either by optically active pigments in the crystal structure of the shell itself, or by the protein layer on top (periostracum) being colored. Yellow and brown are most common, with green and blue being much less so. (311)
October 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Bivalve shells are often colored, either by optically active pigments in the crystal structure of the shell itself, or by the protein layer on top (periostracum) being colored. Yellow and brown are most common, with green and blue being much less so. (311)
Just visit the UC Davis Conservatory Plant Sale, I said. You don't even need to buy anything, I said.
*returns home with Amorphophallus*
*returns home with Amorphophallus*
October 25, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Just visit the UC Davis Conservatory Plant Sale, I said. You don't even need to buy anything, I said.
*returns home with Amorphophallus*
*returns home with Amorphophallus*
On 11/12 at 12 Pacific time I'll be joining my fave mag @baynature.org for a talk about salinity in SF Bay! Thinkin on the salt of the Bay, wasting time.🧂🌊 Register at this link: free for members or $5 otherwise, with the fee going to a great cause! baynature.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/ne...
October 22, 2025 at 7:11 PM
On 11/12 at 12 Pacific time I'll be joining my fave mag @baynature.org for a talk about salinity in SF Bay! Thinkin on the salt of the Bay, wasting time.🧂🌊 Register at this link: free for members or $5 otherwise, with the fee going to a great cause! baynature.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/ne...
Here I am holding Aplysia vaccaria like a big fat baby
October 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Here I am holding Aplysia vaccaria like a big fat baby
Gaper clams are so called because their siphons are too beefy to be fully retracted into their shell, so they gape open at one end. As with geoducks, this big snorkel is an adaptation to living deep in the sediment, where having a gap in the armor isn't as big a vulnerability! (310)
October 21, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Gaper clams are so called because their siphons are too beefy to be fully retracted into their shell, so they gape open at one end. As with geoducks, this big snorkel is an adaptation to living deep in the sediment, where having a gap in the armor isn't as big a vulnerability! (310)
The Walrus and the Carpenter accurately portays how much walruses love to eat bivalves. But walruses mostly hunt deeper than where oysters live, using their mouths like a piston to suck clams out of the shell. One study found >80% of their stomach contents were Mya truncata, the blunt gaper! (309)
October 20, 2025 at 8:09 PM
The Walrus and the Carpenter accurately portays how much walruses love to eat bivalves. But walruses mostly hunt deeper than where oysters live, using their mouths like a piston to suck clams out of the shell. One study found >80% of their stomach contents were Mya truncata, the blunt gaper! (309)
When you think of "clams", you might be thinking of Veneridae, the Venus clams. With over >700 species, these are absolutely classic clams. Many are important food species. While their taxonomy is a mess, they are beautiful like their goddess namesake. 12/10, no notes (308)
October 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
When you think of "clams", you might be thinking of Veneridae, the Venus clams. With over >700 species, these are absolutely classic clams. Many are important food species. While their taxonomy is a mess, they are beautiful like their goddess namesake. 12/10, no notes (308)
When a clam is disturbed, such as by a predator, or a storm, it may stop growth, making a scar (aka a growth check). But clams are survivors, and can start again later! (307)
October 20, 2025 at 1:08 AM
When a clam is disturbed, such as by a predator, or a storm, it may stop growth, making a scar (aka a growth check). But clams are survivors, and can start again later! (307)
Planktomya was thought for a long time to be a planktonic bivalve, because one species, P. henseni, was found in plankton tows from Gulf of Mexico to Western Africa. Researchers later figured out that it's just a bivalve from the Caribbean with particularly prolific, long-lived larvae! (306)
October 14, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Planktomya was thought for a long time to be a planktonic bivalve, because one species, P. henseni, was found in plankton tows from Gulf of Mexico to Western Africa. Researchers later figured out that it's just a bivalve from the Caribbean with particularly prolific, long-lived larvae! (306)
Brachiopods once were the dominant invert group, but after the Permian-Triassic extinction, bivalves began to run the show. There are 100s of brachs alive, but >20,000 species of bivalves by some counts! Brachs to me are the elves of invert paleo. A noble race reminding us of a better age. (302)
October 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Brachiopods once were the dominant invert group, but after the Permian-Triassic extinction, bivalves began to run the show. There are 100s of brachs alive, but >20,000 species of bivalves by some counts! Brachs to me are the elves of invert paleo. A noble race reminding us of a better age. (302)
A common complaint about cooking w/ bivalves is the sand. Bivalves adapted to sandy intertidal, like cockles, will have the most sand in the extrapallial space, gills, siphons. You can clean them by rinsing/soaking, or if they're live, leave them overnight in water to spit it out. (301)
October 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
A common complaint about cooking w/ bivalves is the sand. Bivalves adapted to sandy intertidal, like cockles, will have the most sand in the extrapallial space, gills, siphons. You can clean them by rinsing/soaking, or if they're live, leave them overnight in water to spit it out. (301)
Fact #300! Chemosymbiotic clams like Calyptogena live at methane seeps in deep water! Bacteria in their gills oxidize methane, sharing sugars with their hosts. Since they live mostly independently from the photosphere, they're studied by astrobiologists trying to understand life on other worlds!
October 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Fact #300! Chemosymbiotic clams like Calyptogena live at methane seeps in deep water! Bacteria in their gills oxidize methane, sharing sugars with their hosts. Since they live mostly independently from the photosphere, they're studied by astrobiologists trying to understand life on other worlds!
In Chinese/Japanese mythology, "shen" are mysterious giant clam/dragon creatures that create mirages. A lot of Chinese words for mirage apparently arise from this myth! (299)
October 9, 2025 at 7:31 PM
In Chinese/Japanese mythology, "shen" are mysterious giant clam/dragon creatures that create mirages. A lot of Chinese words for mirage apparently arise from this myth! (299)
Clams casino could be a contender for least kosher food possible. Hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) are breaded, covered with bacon and put on the half shell to be baked. A New England classic, strongly associated with the Italian American community! (298)
October 9, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Clams casino could be a contender for least kosher food possible. Hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) are breaded, covered with bacon and put on the half shell to be baked. A New England classic, strongly associated with the Italian American community! (298)
Shellfish are not kosher, or permissible in Jewish dietary laws. This comes back to their lack of scales or fins! I guess Tridacna squamosa (the fluted giant clam, with squamosa meaning scaly), or the genus Pinna, whose name means fin, don't count! Shucks! (297)
October 8, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Shellfish are not kosher, or permissible in Jewish dietary laws. This comes back to their lack of scales or fins! I guess Tridacna squamosa (the fluted giant clam, with squamosa meaning scaly), or the genus Pinna, whose name means fin, don't count! Shucks! (297)
Mercenaria mercenaria, the hard clam or quahog, is a staple in New England cuisine. Its Latin name, Mercenaria, refers back to the use of shell wampum beads as currency, while 'quahog' comes from its Narragansett name, poquauhock. It also has varying common names depending on size! (296)
October 8, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Mercenaria mercenaria, the hard clam or quahog, is a staple in New England cuisine. Its Latin name, Mercenaria, refers back to the use of shell wampum beads as currency, while 'quahog' comes from its Narragansett name, poquauhock. It also has varying common names depending on size! (296)