Butter Clam

At a glance

Butter Clam (Saxidomus gigantea) is a bivalve mollusk regulated in 3 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

The strictest bag limit is 20 (Oregon); the most generous is 40 (Alaska).

Confirmed by 1,462 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• One of the longest-lived Pacific clams, butter clams can survive for more than 20 years.
• Shells can reach 5 inches (13 cm) wide, making them one of the larger Pacific coast clams.
• They can retain paralytic shellfish toxins (PSP) for years after a bloom ends, making them potentially dangerous.
• Butter clams burrow up to 30 cm deep in gravel and sandy-gravel beaches.
• They were a critical food source for Indigenous peoples throughout the Pacific Northwest coast.

Where Butter Clam are seen

• British Columbia732 iNat obs
• Washington480 iNat obs
• Alaska204 iNat obs
• Oregon37 iNat obs
• California9 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Butter Clam

• British ColumbiaCanada · official source
• OregonUnited States · official source

Background

Saxidomus gigantea is a large, edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Veneridae, the venus clams. It can be found along the western coast of North America, ranging from the Aleutian Islands to San Francisco Bay. Common names for this clam include butter clam, Washington clam, smooth Washington clam and money shell.

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Butter Clam article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other clams/oysters/mussels on CatchRules

• Blue MusselMytilus edulis
• Atlantic Ribbed MusselGeukensia demissa
• Atlantic JackknifeEnsis leei
• Blood ArkLunarca ovalis