The clam, which is greater than 200 years old, was released last week by the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in Florida.
In accordance with the GSML, the geriatric mollusk could have been born in the identical 12 months as Abraham Lincoln.
The clam was discovered by one in all the lab’s AmeriCorps members, Blaine Parker, over Presidents’ Day weekend when he and his family were walking along Alligator Point near Tallahassee. They were on the lookout for shellfish to make clam chowder.
After discovering the mollusk, Parker decided to take it to the GSML, where the mollusk was classified as ocean quahog or Arctica islandica.
In accordance with the GSML, oceanic quahogs typically live in habitats along the Atlantic coast between Newfoundland, Canada and North Carolina. Which means the Parker mollusk found along the Gulf of Mexico was removed from home.
Along with being a little bit of a traveler, the clam was also large. GSML said oceanic quahogs typically have a shell length of around 2.8-4.3 inches, however the one Parker found was 6 inches long. As well as, the mollusk weighed 2.6 kilos.
The clam was also much old. In accordance with GSML, Parker calculated the clam’s age by counting the variety of layers on its shell and determined that the mighty ocean-traveling quahog was 214 years old.
This puts the clam’s 12 months of birth at 1809 – a birth 12 months it shares with Abraham Lincoln. As a consequence of its association with the sixteenth president and the invention during Presidents’ Day weekend, Parker nicknamed the oceanic quahog “Abra-clam Lincoln”.
In accordance with NOAA, ocean quahogs are among the many longest-lived marine creatures in the world. Some, resembling Abra-clam Lincoln, can live for at the least 200 years.
More to history
Nevertheless, after a surge in media coverage of the Abra-clam, the GSML concluded that the clam could have been misidentified and its 214-year-old age questionable.
Abra-clam Lincoln was originally regarded as an oceanic quahog. But after working with Florida Atlantic University professor Edward Petuch, GSNL determined that Abra-clam Lincoln was as an alternative southern quahog.
Abra-clam Lincoln was also believed to be 214 years old, an age calculated by counting the ridges on the surface of the clam shells. Nevertheless, the GSML said that this method used to estimate the age of the mussels was a misinterpretation of the scientific paper.
The study found that the proper approach to mussel aging consists in counting the striations on the inside the shell. Nevertheless, using this method to find out the age of Lincoln’s Abra-clam would kill the clam. Thus, his true age will remain unknown.
“This has been a learning experience for all of us here at Gulf Specimen and we cherish it as such,” GSML said in its Facebook post.
“It was very inspiring to see the audience so involved with a sea creature as uncharismatic as a clam,” they added. “This widespread interest in marine life has brought us to life in our mission to guard the world’s precious waters through education.”