soft-shell clams
Thin-shelled beach diggers
Soft-shell clams are edible bivalves with thin, brittle shells that don't fully close, found along Atlantic coastlines.
They're harvested from tidal mudflats and sand, often called steamers when prepared that way: We ordered a bucket of steamers at the clam shack.
The protruding siphon distinguishes them from hard-shell clams.
- steamersClams or cooking vessels
- mudflatsCoastal areas exposed at low tide
- tidal flatsCoastline exposed at low water
- diggingRemoving earth below
- brinyStrongly of salt
sea water · bucket · sand · tidepool · New England · New England coast · chowder · bivalve · quahog · bellies · tartar sauce · fried · butter · garlic · shucking · beach · low tide · brackish
- invertebratesinvertebrate, arthropod, arthropods, mollusk, crustacean
- bivalvesmussels, scallops, mussel, cockles, oyster
- seafood boilseafood boil, crab boil, clambake, steamers, lobster pot
shell hardness/texture
soft-shell clamshard-shell clams
Thick-walled edible bivalves
littlenecks · cherrystones · geoducks · oysters · razor clams
soft, softer, softest, softly, soften, softened, softening, softness, shell