Clam Varieties

There are well over 200 Varieties of Clams!

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Clam cakes are deep fried clam patties whose ingredients include chopped clams, flour, eggs, and more. Sometimes clam juice, milk, baking powder or soda and other ingredients are added. You will probably encounter them only in Maine, Massachusetts, and Maine, and sometimes the term Rhode Island Clam Cakes is used in Rhode Island and even Southern Mass.

Sea Clams - Also called surf clams and Atlantic surf clams, these are commonly taken by trawling or with a pitchfork at extreme low tides.

Clams by Their Shells - A pictorial guide to clams and some other shellfish from Cape Cod and nearby.

Cockle Clams - The cockle commonly found in Cape Cod and points south, which has an unagreeable taste. Not all clams taste good!

Common Cockle (Europe) - A tasty cockle common in Europe, called coques in French.

Types of Clams - A quick rundown

Quahog Clams - Pronounced "Co-Hog." Mid sized ones are called Cherrystones and smaller ones are called Littlenecks. "Ocean quahogs" are actually a much different species, although they look very similar except they are larger.

Amandes de Mer - Also called "Dog Cockles" by the British, this European clam tastes sweet and of almonds, but gets tough if overcooked or canned.

Littleneck Clams - Technically small quahogs, these are the most popular East Coast USA hard shelled clams, and commonly eaten raw.

Geoduck Clams - Freakish looking soft shelled clams from the west coast of the USA, which can be 10 inches long  with a neck as long as five+ inches.

Maine Mahogany Clams - These are inexpensive clams from Maine that were once though to be a new species, but in fact were determined to be Ocean Quahogs. Read about my food experiments cooking these several ways.

Manilla Clams - Small, Pacific, hard shell clams, originally native from China to Siberia, but now also introduced to the pacific Northwest. These are both harvested from the wild and commercially farmed.

Clam Species - A slightly scientific look at commonly eaten American clams.















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