Want to shuck them yourself? They're shucked just like oysters. These are the clams most often seen raw, on the half-shell on seafood platters. Littlenecks: The smallest of the hard-shell clams ( Mercenaria mercenaria), measuring just over one inch across (measured at the hinge). Smaller ones are eaten raw, shucked and on the half-shell, whereas bigger ones are the basis of famed clam chowder. They are harvested by simply digging them up. and Canada in intertidal areas burrowed in the sand. They live in the Atlantic Ocean along the east coasts of the U.S. Littlenecks, topnecks, cherrystones, chowders-they are all the same clam, just different sizes (listed from smallest to biggest). Hard-shell clams ( Mercenaria mercenaria) go by many names.
