Donax trunculus Linnaeus 1758

Wedge Clam on the Beach

The truncate donax,^[1] abrupt wedge shell, wedge clam or coquina clam^[2] (Donax trunculus), is a bivalve species in the family Donacidae. It is native to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of western Europe,^[1] as well as the Red sea,^[3] where it is consumed as a food. The wedge clam prefers to live at depths of 0-2m and in clean, fine, and well sorted sand.^[3] These clams are efficient and rapid burrowers, and their survival relies heavily on the composition of the sand they burrow in.^[3] Their burrowing times vary based on the coarseness of the sand, which reflects their prevalence in these fine-sanded environments.^[4] The wedge clam is a popular food item for human consumption, but can carry heavy metals and hydrocarbon contaminations.^[5] As they are commonly consumed raw or lightly cooked, these contaminants are commonly present at the time of consumption.^[5] Despite this, the wedge clam is an efficient bioindicator of heavy metals and hydrocarbon contaminants in their environment.^[5]

Names in other languages

It is locally known as flion, flion tronqué, olive de mer, haricot de mer or telline (among other names) in French,^[6][2][7] lagagnon in the area of Arcaishon and Les Landes,^[7] cadelucha in the Bayonne region,^[8] which coincides with the Basque name of kadeluxa; tellin, tellina, telline, tenille or truille^[8] in the Occitan-speaking area of the Mediterranean, tellina or arsella in Italian, tellerina, tellina or escopinya francesa in Catalan (the latter variant used on Menorca),^{[9][2][10][11][12][13][14]} jòcula cautxa in Catalan of the Alguerès variant,^[15] coquina truncada or coquina in Spanish,^{[6][16][17][13]}cadelucha, coquina or navalliña in Galician, conquilha or cadelinha in Portuguese and Um El-Kholol in Egyptian Arabic, etc. In Australia, a very similar shellfish is locally known as "Pippies".

References

Media related to Donax trunculus at Wikimedia Commons