Cherrystone clam

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Name variations

 * Littlenecks
 * Littleneck clam
 * Atlantic littleneck clam

About Cherrystone clam
This East Coast medium-sized clam (shell diameter of about 2½ inches) is of the hard-shell variety. Cherrystones are good both raw and cooked, steaming and baking being the most popular cooking methods.

Cherrystone clam, also known as the Atlantic littleneck clam, is a type of mollusk and it is a member of the genus Mercenaria in the Mercenaridae family. Cherrystone clam is a quahog clam in miniature. Cherrystone is mollusk that lives in a shell which is generally gray or sandy and it is very hard. Cherrystone clam also called littleneck clam can be found all over littoral areas across the Atlantic Ocean. Cherrystone clams have hard oval-shaped shells covered with concentric strips. The interior of the shell is white and it includes a dark purple muscle which has three cardinal teeth. Atlantic littleneck clams live a long life approximately thirty years, but not more than fifty years. Cherrystone clams diameter is of about twenty one inches. Cherrystone clams move with the help of their single muscular foot which also help them attach on rocks when they are in danger. Cherrystone clams survive by feeding themselves with algae and other vegetative organism and they use their three white cardinal teeth two grab the food. Generally cherrystone clams are eaten by shore birds or they are taken from the beach by humans.