There is no form of parental care. Fertilization occurs externally and larvae are left to feed and swim independently. Coquinas typically live between 1 to 2 years in the wild but can only live up to 3 days in the absence of moving water. Lack of water deprives the coquina of nutrients obtained through filter feeding.
Coquinas are active animals, found migrating up and down beaches with the assistance of waves. They use their muscular foot to burrow into the sand as waves recede down the beach to prevent being swept away. They are also known to use the waves in order to move up the beach and are capable of moving horizontally along the beach. Delancey, ; Ellers, ; Turner, Jr. There is no known social communication between coquinas.
However, they have a tendency to live within close proximity of each other, most likely due to favorable environmental factors for the clams. Coquinas are filter feeders, feeding primarily on phytoplankton, algae, detritus, bacteria, and other small particles suspended in the surf as the waves ebb and flow.
Feeding is performed through the use of short siphons. Coquinas are consumed by various fish such as Trachinotus carolinus and Menticirrhus spp. Coquinas serve as food sources for shorebirds, fish, and humans. A beach with a large number of coquinas indicates a healthy beach habitat due to the presence of naturally-formed sand and the absence of external factors such as human construction.
Coquinas are eaten and used as decoration because of their colorful markings. The shells are also be used in ornamental landscaping. Through their filter-feeding, coquinas can concentrate toxins and harmful organisms bacteria, viruses, etc that may cause harm to humans when eaten.
However, coquinas face certain challenges, such as rising sea levels, global warming, and beach erosion. Laws and regulations that curtail erosion and maintain the natural flow of sand on beaches benefit populations of this clam.
Other common names for Donax variabilis include bean clam, butterfly clam, donax clam, and southern coquina. It is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific Ocean. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends.
Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. For example, diseases caused by infection of filarial nematodes elephantiasis and river blindness. Detritus is the result of the activity of decomposers organisms that decompose organic material. Used mainly by aquatic invertebrates, especially plankton, but also by baleen whales. Related Projects. Atlantic giant cockle Atlantic giant cockle.
Channeled Whelk Channeled Whelk. Eastern Auger Eastern Auger. Eastern Oyster Eastern Oyster. The Australian Donax had a name change. No matter what you call it, it still tastes great. The next question is, how do you collect them, since they are tiny, usually about the size of your little fingernail. Tidal changes are not great in Florida, so it has wide beaches that tend to be flat.
That is where one finds Coquina, not where the waves crash ashore, but where they wash gently between high and low tide. That is how one finds a bed of them. The smooth sand will be clear, a small wave comes in and recedes and you will see a multitude of tiny tuffs dotting the sand that then disappear into the sand.
A shovel full of that sand usually produces hundreds of Coquina. Dump the sand into your colander, rinse the sand away, and dump the Coquina into your bucket, which has sea water in it.
Of course, two people with two colanders works the best, one filling and one rinsing. You can easily collect gallons of them. The only odd part is they live in colonies, so you will go from patches of beach with them to patches without. As for cooking…. Rinse them very well; place in a pot with enough cold fresh water to almost cover the shells. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer a few minutes, 10 to 15 will do.
Drain off the broth and serve. I think it is also the basis for a great potato puree. As for the tiny bits of meat…. But I have eaten a lot of that, too. In Australia they apparently separate the meat commercially. Lastly, there is some humor in the naming of the Donax. It is among the smallest of edible shellfish, but Donax usually means a giant reed. There are two possible explanations. One is the donax was a large split reed in two and the little Coquina has two siphons.
The species name, variabili means changeable, referring to coloration. Like other crabs and lobsters they are garbage collectors… they eat little bits of this and that. Tiny, in a garlicky, winey broth, there were about 60 in a portion. We charged our grandchildren with collecting enough for supper, culled out the largest ones, soaked them in a cornmeal — dusted bath for 30 minutes to encourage them to disgorge the sand , rinsed and drained. Sauteed garlic and red pepper flake in olive oil, added white wine and the coquinas, steamed covered just til they opened.
Stirred in a couple of knobs of sweet butter and some italian parsley, they were delicious, briny and garlicky. Four ounces in the shell per person made a fun first course. Made way too much though, so back into the pot they went with a half quart of water… now I have damn tasty stock! Liquid gold! My uncle-in-law is from Jordan. Not really sure how well that works, and I never was brave enough to try it.
I found coquinas by the gob when a pup on Marco Island near 50 years ago. The resulting broth was great. I tired of trying to de-meat them though, and settled for straight broth.
The road to Marco was a plank bridge at that time. Ah, me too! I used to catch them by the handful, back in the early days at my home country Venezuela. That was about 30 years ago.
I remember them larger about 1 inch in length and wearing quite colorful shells. Let me tell you about delicious! Nowadays, they are hard to find, even in Venezuela. Yes, Deane! The coquina does bring great memories indeed. Looked it up and here is an excellent paper that explains it… symbiotic hydroid!
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