What do clams do?

Clams Remove Nitrogen from Coastal Waters Clams play an important role in the cycling of nutrients, including nitrogen (N). Clams do not absorb nitrogen directly from their environment, rather they feed on naturally-occurring phytoplankton, which use dissolved inorganic nitrogen, available in the water, to grow.

Can clams move on their own?

Clams have the most control of their movement using their foot. Aside from digging into the sand, most clams then move by using water currents, which allows them to move from one region to the other. On the other hand, clams do not have a lot of control over how or where water currents carry them.

Does a clam have a brain?

Clams don’t have a centralized brain like mammals. However, they do have a nervous system, giving them the ability to feel things and react.

Do clams clean water?

Oysters, clams, and other shellfish are efficient filter feeders that help remove excess nitrogen from waters by incorporating it into their shells and tissue as they grow. Adult oysters reportedly can filter up to 50 gallons a day, while large quahogs (hard clams) can clean about 24 gallons of water a day.

What is the anatomy of a clam?

Clams are marine mollusks with two valves or shells. Like all mollusks, a clam has a mantle which surrounds its soft body. It also has a muscular foot which enables the clam to burrow itself in mud or sand. The soft tissue above the foot is called the visceral mass and contains the clam’s body organs.

What opens and closes the clam?

Bivalve mollusks generally have either one or two adductor muscles. Scallops and file clams can swim by opening and closing their valves rapidly by alternatingly contracting and relaxing their adductor muscles; water is ejected on either side of the hinge area and they move with the flapping valves in front.

Why are pearls in clams?

Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. This creates a material called nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, which encases the irritant and protects the mollusc from it.