Mercenaria
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This article is about genus of clams. For other uses, see Mercenaria (disambiguation).
| Mercenaria | |
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| Hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Veneroida |
| Family: | Veneridae |
| Genus: | Mercenaria Schumacher, 1817 |
| Species | |
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Mercenaria is a genus of edible saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams.
The genus Mercenaria includes the quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria, the northern quahog or hard clam, and M. campechiensis, the southern quahog. These two species commonly hybridise where their ranges overlap.
Other species within the genus include the venus clam M. stimpsoni found in north Pacific waters.
All these species were formerly placed in the related genus Venus. Several other species are known only from fossils.
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[edit] Species
The World Register of Marine Species accepts the following extant species as valid: [1]
- Mercenaria campechiensis (Gmelin, 1791) - Southern quahog
- Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern quahog
- Mercenaria stimpsoni (Gould, 1861) - Venus clam
- Mercenaria texana (Dall, 1902)
[edit] Fossil species
- M. corrugata
- M. druidi
- M. ochlockoneensis
- M. permagna
- M. rileyi
- M. tridacnoides
[edit] References
- ^ Mercenaria Schumacher, 1817 World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
[edit] Miscellaneous information
The Mercenaria is the State Shell of Rhode Island.
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