CreatureData

Purple clam

Nuttallia nuttallii (Conrad, 1837)

Status not recordedmolluscs

The purple clam (Nuttallia nuttallii) is a species in the family Psammobiidae, order Cardiida.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the purple clam

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the purple clam live?

Not recorded

Is the purple clam endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the purple clam classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumMollusca
  3. classBivalvia
  4. orderCardiida
  5. familyPsammobiidae
  6. genusNuttallia
  7. SpeciesNuttallia nuttallii (Conrad, 1837)

Synonyms Psammobia decora, Sanguinolaria grandis, Sanguinolaria nuttallii, Sanguinolaria orcutti

Other names and names in other languages (6)
  • California mahogany clamEnglish
  • California mahogany-clamEnglish
  • Mahogany clamEnglish
  • purpurovka mahagonováCzech
  • Mahagoni-MuschelGerman
  • Сангвинолярия НуталлаRussian

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the purple clam

Other species in the same genus Nuttallia.

Varnish clam

Nuttallia obscurata

PsammobiidaeNo free photo yet

ComparePurple clam vs Varnish clamPurple clam vs Purple olive clamPurple clam vs Nuttallia commodaPurple clam vs Nuttallia ezonis

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

What kind of animal is the purple clam?

The purple clam (Nuttallia nuttallii) belongs to the family Psammobiidae in the order Cardiida.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Purple clam (Nuttallia nuttallii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-clam

MLA

“Purple clam (Nuttallia nuttallii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-clam.

BibTeX
@misc{purple_clam_2026,
  title = {Purple clam (Nuttallia nuttallii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-clam},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}