How do a clam eat?

A clam gets its food from the water.  Food enters by way of the clam’s siphon or “neck.”

A clam is an animal whose soft body is protected by two hard shells that close over it like the covers of a book.  There are many kinds of clams, in many parts of the world.  Some clams lives on the bottoms of oceans, others live on the muddy bottoms of lakes and streams.

Clams called soft-shell clams live buried in the sand along seashores.  They are sometimes called “longneck” clams since they have a long siphon which people call a “neck.”

When the tide covers the sand the soft-shell clam opens up its shell and pushes its long siphon up through the sand to the water above.  It sucks water into its body and digests the tiny plants and other food particles it finds in the water.

When the tidies out, the clam pulls in its siphon.  This causes a little spurt of water which shows someone who is hunting clams where the clam is hidden.

The American Indians taught the Pilgrims how to dig clams along the beach.  Today a favorite picnic in many towns along the seashore is the clambake.-Dick Rogers