Quahogs (pronounced "KO-hog", IPA /kohɑɡ/, "kwag", or "kwa-HOG", IPA /kwɑhɑɡ/), mercenaria mercenaria or venus mercenaria, are also called hard-shell clams, and by terms referring to different sizes from smallest to largest, "littlenecks", "cherrystones", "quahogs", and "chowders". The Quahog takes its name from the Narragansett Indian word "poquauhock" (the word is similar in Wampanoag and some other Algonquin languages), and as New England Indians made valuable beads called wampum from the shells (especially the purple color), the scientific name Mercenaria mercenaria is related to the Latin word for "money". The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... The Narragansett tribe, or more accurately Nahahiganseck Sovereign Nation, are a Native American tribe who controlled the area surrounding Narragansett Bay in present-day Rhode Island, and also portions of Connecticut, and eastern Massachusetts. ... The Wampanoag (Wôpanâak in current orthography) are a Native American people. ... The Algonquins or Algonkins are an aboriginal North American people speaking Algonquin, an Algonquian language. ... Wampum, or sewan, was a string or belt of beads prized by early Native Americans and First Nations, and was used as a trading currency up through the early decades of European colonization. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Quahogs are salt-water mollusks that thrive in salt concentrations of 18-26 ppt, which is less salty than open ocean salinity of 35 ppt, and thus thrive in less-salty tidal estuaries and bays. They have a "foot" they use to dig themselves into the sand and mud, and they are filter feeders, and are susceptible to concentrating human toxins if the toxins are present in their environment (especially, see Red tide, and more commonly coliform bacteria). Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora - Chitons Monoplacophora Bivalvia - Bivalves Scaphopoda - Tusk shells Gastropoda - Snails and Slugs Cephalopoda - Squids, Octopuses, etc. ... An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection with the open sea and within which sea water mixes with fresh water. ... A red tide resulting from a dinoflagellate bloom discoloring the water on the right An algal bloom is a relatively rapid increase in the population of (usually) phytoplankton algae in an aquatic system. ... Coliform bacteria is used often as indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water. ...

They are quite common throughout New England, north into Canada, and all down the Eastern seaboard to Florida, but are particularly abundant between Cape Cod and New Jersey where seeding and harvesting them is an important commercial seafood industry. Tiny Rhode Island, situated right in the middle of "quahog country", has supplied a quarter of the nation's total annual commercial quahog catch, and the quahog shell is the Rhode Island state shell. The species has also been introduced and is farmed on the Pacific coast and in Great Britain and Europe. The Flag of Plymouth Colony, also know as the First Flag of New England The Bunker HIll Flag, also known as the Third Flag of New England or Red Flag of New England Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Categories: US geography stubs ... State nickname: Sunshine State Official languages English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Governor Jeb Bush (R) Senators Bill Nelson (D) Mel Martinez (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 22nd 170,451 km² 17. ... Cape Cod and the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coastline Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay from space, April 1997. ... State nickname: The Garden State Official languages None defined, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Governor Richard Codey (D) Acting, Outgoing Jon Corzine (D) (Governor-Elect) Senators Jon Corzine (D) (Outgoing) Bob Menendez (D) (named as Corzines replacement) Frank Lautenberg (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 47th 22... State nickname: The Ocean State, Little Rhody Official languages None Capital Providence Largest city Providence Governor Donald Carcieri (R) Senators Jack Reed (D) Lincoln Chafee (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 50th 4,005 km² 32. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ... A satellite composite image of Europe // Etymology Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus. ...

Restaurants known as raw bars specialize in serving cherrystones served raw on an opened half-shell, usually with a cocktail sauce with horseradish, and often with lemon. Sometimes, quahogs are steamed and dipped in butter, though not as commonly as their soft-shelled clam cousin, the "steamer". Littlenecks are often found in-the-shell in soups, stews, "Clams casino", or substituted for European varieties such as the cockle in southern european seafood dishes. The largest chowders with the toughest meat are used for flavor in more processed forms including the traditional clam chowder and stuffed clam. A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live raw shellfish are shucked and served. ... Cocktail sauce in its simplest form is ketchup mixed with prepared horseradish. ... Binomial name Armoracia rusticana P.G. Gaertn. ... Binomial name Citrus × limon (L.) Burm. ... Soft-shell Clams, mya arenaria, popularly called steamers, softshells or longnecks, are clams that live buried in tidal mudflats most famously on the coast of New England but their range extends much farther north to Canada and to the Southern states. ... Steamer can refer to a Steamboat or Steamship or a Soft-shell Clam or mussel (generally cooked by steaming) Any of a number of cooking appliances and cooking utensils that cook by steaming, such as a rice cooker. ... Genera Acanthocardia Americardia Cardium Cerastoderma Clinocardium Corculum Ctenocardia Dinocardium Discors Fragum Fulvia Laevicardium Lophocardiium Lyrocardium Lunulicardia Microcardium Nemocardium Papyridea Parvicardium Plagiocardium Ringicardium Trachycardium Trigoniocardia Serripes Cockles are the family Cardiidae of bivalve mollusks. ... Clam chowder is any of several chowders containing clams and broth. ...

The Quahog achieved prominence in popular culture in the animated television show Family Guy, which takes place in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island, which was named after this legendary clam. Animation is the illusion of motion created by the consecutive display of images of static elements. ... Main article: List of characters from Family Guy The show revolves around the adventures of Peter Griffin and his family. ...

Preparation & Cooking

It's especially important to prepare quahogs properly to remove sand and mud lodged in their stomaches. Here's the best way to accomplish this:

1. Let the quahogs stand in sea water for 15 minutes. If using tap water, add salt so the quahogs will stay alive. This technique will release the sand and mud in their stomaches.

2. Scrub the shells thoroughly with a stiff bristled brush under cold water.