What is the difference between scallops and clams? A quick guide to telling them apart
Scallops and clams are shellfish commonly eaten in daily life, with tender meat and a delicious taste, and many people like to eat them. Below is an introduction to the difference between scallops and clams.
1. The difference between scallops and clams
1. Different family and genus: scallops are shellfish of the family Pectinidae, while the clam, whose scientific name is the Philippine Venus clam (Ruditapes philippinarum), is a shellfish of the genus Ruditapes in the family Veneridae.
2. Different appearance: the shell of a scallop is mostly disc-shaped or fan-shaped, with ears in front of and behind the umbo, the two ears equal or unequal; in most species there is a distinct byssal notch and fine comb teeth below the anterior ear of the right valve, the shell surface bears radial ribs or concentric lamellar sculpture, and the shell surface is mostly light grayish-white. The shell of a clam is slightly oval, with the two valves equal in size but unequal on the two sides, the beak of the umbo located in the front half, and the ligament embedded and not protruding beyond the shell surface; the color and pattern vary greatly, including white, yellow or light brown, sometimes with radial lines, stripes, large spots or dark brown zigzag patterns, and it is relatively smooth.
3. Different distribution: scallops are widely distributed in the major oceans of the world, and except for a few species, most live in shallow seas from the low tide zone to a depth of about several hundred meters. The wild population of the clam is found around the Philippines, the South China Sea and East China Sea of China, the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the southern Kuril Islands, and it is widely distributed in the northern and southern sea areas of China, in Dalian and Changxing Island of Liaoning, Beidaihe of Hebei, Qingdao and Yantai of Shandong, Lianyungang of Jiangsu, Nanji and Xiangshan of Zhejiang, Pingtan and Xiamen of Fujian, Haimen and Shanwei of Guangdong, and Hong Kong, China, living in coarse sand and small gravel beaches of the intertidal zone and in muddy and sandy bottoms of the subtidal zone.
4. Different uses: besides being eaten, the main edible part of the scallop is the adductor muscle, and its shell can also be made into handicrafts. Clams are basically used for eating, and the main edible part is the clam meat inside.
2. How much do scallops cost per jin?
The price of scallops varies greatly: at the expensive end, several tens of yuan per kilogram, and at the cheap end, only just over ten yuan per kilogram. According to information provided by the National Agricultural Products Business Information Public Service Platform, on October 17, 2019, scallop prices were: 60 yuan/kg at the Beijing Jingfeng Yuegezhuang Agricultural and Sideline Products Wholesale Market, 47 yuan/kg at the Beijing Fengtai District Xinfadi Agricultural Products Wholesale Market, 11 yuan/kg at the Shandong Qingdao Chengyang Vegetable and Aquatic Products Wholesale Market, 10 yuan/kg at the Shandong Weihai Aquatic Products Wholesale Market, 13 yuan/kg at the Shandong Binzhou Lubei Pollution-free Vegetable Wholesale Market, and 68 yuan/kg at the Xinjiang Urumqi Beiyuanchun Wholesale Market.