''Callista chione'', the smooth clam, is a rather large, temperate, marine,

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of marine and freshwater Mollusca, molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hing ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is est ...

that inhabits sandy bottoms or with small pebbles in clean waters down to about 200 m from the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. The shell can reach up to about 110 mm Ø, its outer side is smooth and ranges from light greenish creamy colour to medium brown, probably varies to match the background; the interior is white to soft pink. The concentric and radial growth lines are easily seen. ''Callista chione'' is edible, different dishes are prepared throughout the

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

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, the

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and the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

countries. It has been found that, as is the case with many bivalve molluscs, which are filter-feeders, (they feed by filtering food particles from the water), that ''Callista chione'', common in fish markets in the Mediterranean, concentrates toxins from

dinoflagellate The dinoflagellates ( Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...

s blooms associated with pollution events such as

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes ...

s, sewage water, old sediment dredging, ship ballast water dumping, etc. These toxins cannot be eliminated by the traditional ''cleansing'' of shellfish in clean water or by cooking, and can be responsible for complex human health problems: respiratory ailments, skin rashes, even paralysis, etc., such as it is known now to have occurred in New Orleans, associated with the contact or ingestion of severely contaminated water, left by

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. The commonest of these dangers is known as ''PSP'' or

paralytic shellfish poisoning Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is one of the four recognized syndromes of shellfish poisoning, which share some common features and are primarily associated with bivalve mollusks (such as mussels, clams, oysters and scallops). These shellfi ...

Vernacular names

* En: Smooth or brown Venus-clam * Fr: Vernis, grande palourde * It: Fasolaro (official name), Cappa liscia, cappa chione, issolone, venerechione * De: Braune Venusmuschel * Es: Almejón de sangre, mariposa, almejón brillante, gavesia, concha fina (Málaga España) * Ca: Petxinot de sang, lluenta * Gr: Gyalisteri (γυαλιστερή) * Hr: Lakirka, Rumenka, Klapun

Notes

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1404905 Veneridae Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Marine molluscs of Africa Marine molluscs of Europe Molluscs described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus