He used to be struck by means of its measurement, which indicated its age, he mentioned. Generally, the bigger the clam, the older it is. Most quahog clams found in U.S. waters are between 2.8 and 4.3 inches lengthy, even if they are able to develop greater.
“I’ve seen that species of clam, but never one that big or even close to that big,” mentioned Parker, 23, explaining that the typical quahog weighs about half a pound and that his discovery used to be 2.6 kilos and 6 inches lengthy.
As timber do, clam shells shape every year expansion rings. Parker counted the exterior rings with a fingernail and reached 214 — which means the clam would had been born in 1809, similar to Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth U.S. president.
Parker made up our minds to call his discovery “Abra-clam Lincoln.” People on social media beloved it.
Although some quahogs reside for centuries, “the majority of them are deceased between 30 and 40 years,” Parker mentioned, including that recognizing this actual species at Alligator Point, which is at the Gulf of Mexico, additionally used to be atypical.
He decided that Abra-clam used to be a part of the mercenaria campechiensis species, sometimes called the southern quahog.
“Our area of Florida has the slowest growth rate of the whole gulf population, which is pretty cool,” Parker mentioned, explaining that southern quahog clams are in most cases found between the Chesapeake Bay and the West Indies.
He regarded as consuming the clam. It would make a welcome boost to the banquet he used to be cooking that weekend, he concept, and the shells can be sufficiently big to make use of as bowls.
“At the time, we were planning to make a chowder out of it, but we thought about the fact that it probably was special,” mentioned Parker, who saved the shellfish in a bucket of water. “We decided not to eat it, and I brought it to work on Monday.”
His colleagues, he mentioned, have been overjoyed by means of his discovery.
“They were all just as excited as I was, because we’re all marine science nerds,” he mentioned. “It was a pretty cool day.”
Jack Rudloe, who co-founded the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in 1963, used to be inspired.
“It’s relatively rare to find them,” he mentioned.
Rudloe gave kudos to Parker for bobbing up with a catchy identify for the clam, which Parker mentioned indisputably led to people to take note of a mollusk to which they another way wouldn’t give a 2nd concept.
“It’s really shocking. I didn’t think it would be this popular,” mentioned Parker, who spent a number of days doing analysis at the clam. “I never expected this to blow up as much as it did.”
“What’s really interesting about this species is that they are just extremely tough. They can survive a long time out of water,” he mentioned. “They got their name ‘mercenaria’ because Native Americans would actually use them as currency.”
In his analysis, Parker additionally learned that he will have miscalculated Abra-clam’s age. Rather than counting the outdoor bands, he discovered that he had to depend the inside bands to decide its true lifetime — which will require killing the animal. Further research led Parker to expect that the clam is between 107 and 214 years outdated, however one clam professional he later consulted suspected that Abra-clam Lincoln could be even more youthful.
“We may have been off in the beginning, but overall, there’s no real telling the exact age of that clam without killing it,” mentioned Cypress Rudloe, the chief director of Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and Jack Rudloe’s son.
“At the end of the day,” Cypress Rudloe persevered, “I’m incredibly proud of Blaine. Just to be able to get the attention to marine life on a national level like this is outright amazing.”
Regardless of the way outdated the marine animal is, Parker made up our minds its identify will have to stay Abra-clam Lincoln, as a result of it is what made the shellfish a superstar of varieties.
“It is inspiring to see this many people interested in marine science in this capacity,” he mentioned. “It feels good.”
Parker additionally made up our minds that Abra-clam Lincoln will have to be set loose. On Feb. 24, not up to a week after he found the shellfish, he launched it into the sea.
“I determined that it was too special to let it die in captivity or be made into soup,” Parker mentioned. “I felt a lot better turning it loose.”