Ensis directus   Conrad, 1843

American jack knife clam

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

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

Bivalvia | Adapedonta | Pharidae

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

Benthic; brackish; depth range 0 - 73 m (Ref. 104365).  Temperate, preferred 12°C (Ref. 107945); 46°N - 18°N, 91°W - 59°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Western Atlantic Ocean: from Nova Scotia, Canada to Florida and southern Gulf of Mexico to Campeche, Mexico. Introduced in the Northeast Atlantic from UK (England and Wales), the North Sea to southern Norway and southern Baltic Sea to Spain in the southern Bay of Biscay. Tropical to temperate.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 26.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7726)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Comprise communities and assemblages throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight (Ref. 80354). Inhabits littoral and sublittoral sediment (Ref. 1314). Found in areas influenced by estuarine outflows (Ref. 96507). Swims backward (Ref. 80328).

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 - Fisheries: landings | 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(Fisheries: ; 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): 4.1 - 26, mean 9.7 (based on 362 cells).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low vulnerability (16 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Low.
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).