The Atlantic surf clam is one of the largest species of clam inhabiting the Atlantic coast.  Their heavy shells have a round, triangular shape, and the shell surface is smooth with fine concentric lines.  New lines are added as the clam grows; the lines can be used to determine the age of the clam.  Surf clams have two short siphons which, when extended into the water column, are used to collect and expel water and plankton.  The foot of the clam is used for movement and to burrow into the bottom.  They burrow just below the surface of the mud and are often exposed at low tide, making them vulnerable to predation.

Surf clams are filter feeders, using one of the siphons to intake water and plankton.  The other siphon is used to expel water after the plankton and oxygen have been removed.  The gills extract oxygen and collect plankton on mucus-coated cilia.  The cilia also send the food particles to the mouth.  The clam holds its shell tightly shut with two large muscles, called adductor muscles.  These muscles are strong enough to prevent most predators from opening the shell.

Surf clams are preyed upon by sea gulls, who often drop them from the air onto hard surfaces such as boat decks, docks, and parking lots in an effort to break open the shell.  Other predators include whelks and sea stars.

Surf clams make up about 70 percent of all clams commercially harvested in the United States.  Only the adductor muscle of this clam is edible.  They are used primarily in the production of canned clams and clam chowder and as fish bait.  They are harvested in offshore waters up to 100 feet deep.  Empty shells are common along the southern beaches of Rhode Island and are prized among beachcombers.

During the 1996 North Cape oil spill off Moonstone Beach, hundreds of thousands of surf clams were killed by the toxic oil-polluted water and were washed ashore in great masses.