The hard-shell clam is native to North America’s eastern shores as well as from Prince Edward Island to the Yucatán Peninsula. This marine bivalve mollusk is very common throughout New England ocean waters and can be found across the Eastern seaboard as far south as Florida.

With hard-shell clams, size does matter. Generally speaking, the larger the clam, the meatier and chewier the clam. All hard-shell clams, whether they be Little Necks, Cherrystones, Top Necks, or Quahogs are all the same species. The naming conventions help create differentiation in the scope of clam sizes. For example, Little Necks, are for the most part, the smallest size of clam. Next, we get a little larger in size with Cherrystones, Top Necks a little larger, and then we have the big kahuna, Quahogs. These are also known as chowder clams and help give New England clam chowdah its iconic meaty, hearty texture.

Quahogs, although very abundant between the areas of Cape Cod and New Jersey, Rhode Island is the state that holds the label of “Quahog Country” as this tiny state supplies a significant amount of quahogs to America’s total supply every year.