In Italy clam cultivation is also known as “venericultura”, from the family Veneridae to which the clam belongs, and has been practised in Marano lagoon since the mid-1980s. The species cultivated is the Manila clam (Venerupis philippinarum), which has replaced the native clam (Venerupis decussatus). The former is strictly a lagoon species, while the latter is gathered in the open sea in front of river mouths and at the entrances to lagoons. As Aurelio Zentilin, a biologist working for Almar, observes, there is a clam farm near Marinetta island which is able to grow this Philippine clam from the earliest larval stages to full adult thanks to a careful monitoring of the water and specially designed ponds. Specimens are selected for reproduction and these produce the gametes that turn into planktonic larvae (which swim just below the surface). After a week they have grown enough to be able to anchor themselves on the bottom. The little clams are fed special plankton and allowed to grow to mid-size, when they are “sowed” in prepared sites in the lagoon and left to grow until they reach marketable size.