Panopea bitruncata

Panopea bitruncata Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Adapedonta
Family:	Hiatellidae
Genus:	Panopea
Species:	P. bitruncata
Binomial name
Panopea bitruncata (Conrad, 1872)
Synonyms
Glycimeris bitruncata Conrad, 1872 Panopaea americana W. Stimpson, 1860

Panopea bitruncata is a species of marine bivalve commonly known as the Atlantic Geoduck or Atlantic Geoduck Clam. These clams like their more famous Pacific relative P. generosa have an enlarged siphon that can extend to great lengths or contract to just barely poke out of the shell. They are generally smaller in comparison to the Pacific species though still constitute a sizable mollusc as they cannot fully retract their siphon.

This species is not very common, and is quite poorly documented which makes study of this species quite a challenge. They are thought to be edible, however, due to their rarity it is best to leave them in the ocean. They vast majority of evidence for this species consists only of shells, few live specimens have ever been found.

Range

This species is known to range along the Atlantic Coast as far north as Chesapeake Bay and around the Florida Peninsula into the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The species is so poorly documented that it is unknown how far south along the Gulf Coast it ranges, though unconfirmed sightings from the Northern Yucatán Peninsula have been reported.

Ecology

The clams live in muddy soil and sometimes sand, usually buried deep down with only the tip of the siphon poking out from the substrate. They feed on microscopic organisms suspended in the water column, and water pumped through their siphons is filtered to strain out the organic matter.