 Although this clam is sweeter in taste than the northern quahog, "Mercenaria mercenaria", it is a lot smaller, and is rarely eaten.The taxonomic status of the common tropical western Atlantic venerid bivalve, "Chione cancellata", was radically revised in 2000.What had previously been thought to be one species was discovered to be a "cryptic species pair" and as such it was divided into two separate species, on the basis of morphological, morphometric and phylogenetic analyses.