Ensis is a genus of medium-sized edible saltwater , Littoral zone bivalve in the family Pharidae. Ensis, or , are known in much of Scotland as spoots, for the spouts of water they eject while burrowing into the sand, when visible at low tide.
Description
The shells are long, narrow, and parallel-sided. This shape resembles a closed, old-fashioned
straight razor (a cut-throat razor), or a closed jackknife (
pocket knife) and sometimes these clams are known as razor shells or jackknives. The shells in these species are fragile and can easily be damaged when digging for these clams.
Ecology
Ensis species live in clean sand on exposed beaches. They are capable of digging very rapidly; see the description under the Atlantic jackknife clam. Some clammers catch jackknives by pouring salt on the characteristic keyhole-shaped
breathing holes. The clam then tries to escape the salt by coming up out of its hole, and at this point it is possible to gently grab the shell and pull it out of the ground.
Species
Thirteen species are currently recognised:
-
Ensis californicus (Dall, 1899)
-
Ensis directus (Conrad, 1843) – Atlantic jackknife clam
-
Ensis ensis (Carl Linnaeus, 1758)
-
Ensis goreensis (Clessin, 1888)
-
Ensis macha (Molina, 1782)
-
Ensis magnus (Schumacher, 1817)
-
Ensis megistus (Pilsbry & McGinty, 1943)
-
Ensis minor (Chenu, 1843)
-
Ensis myrae (Berry, 1954)
-
Ensis nitidus (Clessin, 1888)
-
Ensis siliqua (Carl Linnaeus, 1758) – pod razor
-
Ensis terranovensis (Vierna & Martínez-Lage, 2012)
-
Ensis tropicalis (Hertlein & Strong, 1955)
