Mercenaria mercenaria   (Linnaeus, 1758)

Northern quahog

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Mercenaria mercenaria  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Mercenaria mercenaria

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Bivalvia | Venerida | Veneridae | Chioninae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 36 m (Ref. 83435).  Subtropical, preferred 17°C (Ref. 107945); 49°N - 30°N, 80°E - 65°W (Ref. 83435)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 13.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7726); max. reported age: 9 years (Ref. 2823)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Maximum depth from Ref. 104365. Found buried in muddy sediment on the lower shore and shallow sublittoral and in bays and estuaries. Prefers sandy environments to depths of 15 m (Ref. 78574).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the class Bivalvia are mostly gonochoric, some are protandric hermaphrodites. Life cycle: Embryos develop into free-swimming trocophore larvae, succeeded by the bivalve veliger, resembling a miniature clam.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Harvey-Clark, C. 1997. (Ref. 7726)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Aquaculture: production, species profile; Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
References
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Aquaculture: species profile; Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 8.8 - 23.7, mean 13.2 (based on 120 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.16-0.5; tmax=9).
Prior r = 0.43, 95% CL = 0.28 - 0.65, Based on 3 data-limited stock assessments.
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low to moderate vulnerability (25 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.
Nutrients: Calcium = 149 [71, 228] mg/100g; Iron = 8.53 [1.95, 15.11] mg/100g; Protein = 9.88 [8.64, 11.12] %; Omega3 = 0.313 [0.202, 0.423] g/100g; Selenium = 61 [50, 72] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 2.04 [0.56, 3.51] mg/100g (wet weight).