Editing Clam (section)

==== Italy ====
In Italy, clams are often an ingredient of mixed seafood dishes or are eaten together with pasta. The more commonly used varieties of clams in Italian cooking are the ''[[Veneridae|vongola]]'' ''([[Venerupis decussata]])'', the ''[[Mussel|cozza]]'' ''(Mytilus galloprovincialis)'' and the ''[[tellina]]'' ''([[Donax trunculus]])''. Though ''[[Lithophaga|dattero di mare]]'' ''(Lithophaga lithophaga)'' was once eaten, [[overfishing]] drove it to the verge of extinction (it takes 15 to 35 years to reach adult size and could only be harvested by smashing the calcarean rocks that form its habitat) and the Italian government has declared it an [[endangered species]] since 1998 and its harvest and sale are forbidden.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}