Soft shell clams and hard shell clams are both bivalve mollusks, but they are different species: Soft shell clams – Mercenaria mercenaria; hard shell clams – Mya arenaria. Both species are filter feeders filtering the water through their siphons. The biggest identifying feature is their siphon. The soft shell clams bury deeper in the sandy bottom so their siphons are longer.
Prepping Clams
Soft shell and hard shell clams are shucked in the same way, although the soft shell clams require an extra prepping step to clean their siphons.
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