Coquina clams on long beach.

[iamwhatiam52]

Should have asked this last August when I saw them. One of the beaches at Long Beach was LOADED with Coquina clams, just like the beaches in North Florida. They were a little smaller, but just as abundant. I did not know they ranged this far north.

Was this unusual, or are they always there?

[shyland83]

"the coquina clam ranges from Virginia, down the atlantic coast, through the Gulf of Mexico and into texas."
(found this online somewhere)

I work at the beach in Nassau county and I've never noticed any, i think it's probably pretty uncommon, but we get a lot of things moving north in Late summer(triggers for example) so it's not that surprising.

[edwadd]

Can you describe them? In Rockaway there have been millions of brightly colored clams, of very small size (1/2" or less) in the summer months for the last countless number of years.

[fishome25]

I see them at tobay beach every year

[iamwhatiam52]

Yup!
Coquinas.

Colorfull, live in the sand where the waves wash up, dig in as the water rushes out, dozens in a bucketfull of sand.
Glad to know they are always around.
Someone should tell them they are not supposed to live north of Virginia.

[iamwhatiam52]

I'm reviving this old thread because I've been thinking about all the tropicals caught in Long Island each fall.

Am I correct in assuming these billions of clams, along with all the other misplaced tropicals die in winter?

[Spracklcat]

Yes you are, unless they happen to land at an area with artifically raised water temps, like around a power plant effluent or something similar.

[Justjoe]

Many of the tropicals will also be food for the local fish before they die, once the water starts getting too cold for them, they stop eating and swim more slowly and become easy targets, especially given their colors. They are part of the natural food chain, so you can certainly interpret them being misplaced relative to how we think about it and where they "should" be. When the waters start to get real cold, and we get a cold snap, we have seen days where you'll find dead butterflies in shallows.
Some of the other fish that we view as tropicals do have migratory skills and head back down south as well.
As reefers we focus on the tropicals, but the same is true about the Northern fish that come to our waters in the winter time with the Labrador current. We live in a truly dynamic region.