Gaper vs. Eastern Softshell

[BottomFeeder]

I dug a limit of Gapers(12) out at Netarts Bay once and picked up, as one of my bycatch clams, an Eastern softshell clam. A state trooper asked if he could check my clams and I said sure no problem. He almost gave me a ticket for having 13 Gapers! My question is, has anyone ever had an OSP or game officer mistakenly count an Eastern as a Gaper? How many of you know the difference (include any OSP/game officers that may be reading)? There are several key differences and I have heard from several people now that the OSP and/or game officers checking clams are not informed and will erringly write citations for overharvest.

In general:

The largest Eastern Softshell is smaller than the minimum Gaper worth cleaning and eating. Their shells are elongated, the primary Gaper species at Netarts is oval. The secondary species of Gaper has a hard grey neck with a rock hard black tip and remembles a huge Razor clam. Softshells also have a rusty colored lining on the "lips" that run up and down the shell. Their necks can also pull completely inside the shell, like a Butterclam, Gapers have modest to extensive protrusion. In Netarts, Softshells are whiteish in color, young Gapers have tan coloration on their outer shell changing to blue/black going towards the hinge.

Those are the main identifiers I use. Any one else?

TPM

[Snapset]

U got it right, Perchmaster.
I keep hearing stories of Gamies who can't differentiate between species. If I had my way, anytime a Gamie misidentified a catch, he would have to pay the same amount as we would if we made the same mistake.