Editing Clam (section)

===Europe===
==== Great Britain ====
The rocky terrain and pebbly shores of the seacoast that surrounds [[Great Britain]] provide ample habitat for shellfish including clams. Historically, British cuisine has been more heavily based on beef and dairy products than seafood, although there is evidence going back to before most recorded history of coastal shell middens near Weymouth and present day York.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.5334/ai.0207|title=Mesolithic middens and molluscan ecology: A view from southern Britain|year=1998|last1=Thomas|first1=Ken|last2=Mannino|first2=Marcello|journal=Archaeology International|volume=2|pages=17|doi-access=free}}</ref> 70% of the seafood cultivated for aquaculture or commercial harvesting is exported to the continent,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2019/04/10/trade-insights-more-than-70-of-uk-seafood-exports-go-to-eu/|title = Trade insights: More than 70% of UK seafood exports go to EU|work=undercurrent news|author=Louise Harkell|date=10 April 2021|accessdate=8 November 2021}}</ref> though present-day younger populations are eating more of the catch than a generation ago.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

Staple favourites of the British public and local scavengers include the razorfish, ''[[Ensis siliqua]]'', a slightly smaller cousin of the [[Atlantic jackknife clam|bamboo clam]] of eastern North America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishseafishing.co.uk/razorfish/|title=Razorfish|website=British Sea Fishing|date=12 October 2012}}</ref> These can be found for sale in open-air markets like Billingsgate Market in London; they have a similar taste to their North American cousin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-razor-clams-on-display-in-billingsgate-fish-market-london-74063195.html|title=Razor Clams on display in Billingsgate Fish Market, London|publisher=Alamy}}</ref> Cockles, specifically the [[common cockle]], are a staple find on beaches in western Wales and further north in the [[Dee Estuary]]. The accidentally introduced hard-shell quahog is also found in British waters, mainly those near England, and does see some use in British cuisine. The [[Grooved carpet shell|Palourde clam]] by far is the most common native clam and it is both commercially harvested as well as locally collected, and ''[[Spisula solida]]'', a relative of the Atlantic surf clam on the other side of the Atlantic, is seeing increased interest as a food source and aquaculture candidate; it is mainly found in the British Isles in Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1111/are.12593|title=New species in aquaculture: Are the striped venus clam ''Chamelea'' gallina(Linnaeus, 1758) and the surf clam ''Spisula'' solida(Linnaeus 1758) potential candidates for diversification in shellfish aquaculture?|year=2016|last1=Joaquim|first1=Sandra|last2=Matias| first2=Domitília|last3=Matias|first3=Ana Margarete|last4=Gonçalves| first4=Rui|last5=Chícharo|first5=Luís|last6=Gaspar|first6=Miguel B.|journal=Aquaculture Research|volume=47|issue=4|pages=1327–1340|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== 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}}