Download or read book Exploratory Clam Survey of Florida Nearshore and Estuarine Waters with Commercial Hydraulic Dredging Gear written by Mark F. Godcharles and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Distribution and abundance of commercial clams were investigated, using a hydraulic Nantucket clam dredge and a Maryland soft-shell escalator clam dredge at 846 stations along the west and southeast coasts of Florida, during 1970 and 1971. Sunray venus clams occurred along the entire west coast, but were more abundant north of Tampa Bay and were found in commercial quantitites only on the existing commercial Bell Shoal bed. Southern quahogs were most abundant near passes along central and southwest Florida. In bays, both species were usually associated with seagrasses, but this was not noted in open Gulf collections. Both species were seldom collected beyond 9.2 meter depths. The most abundant bivalve was the march clam confined to brackish areas of the Peace and Myakka rivers. At lower salinities, the marsh clams were larger and had more size classes.