الفهرس 
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Abstract
The carpet clam Paphia textile, also synonymized as Paratapes textile (Bivalvia: Veneridae), is a marine species of high economic value. The current study provides the first insights into the population structure, population dynamics, and reproduction of the commercial clam P. textile, the most abundant bivalve species produced from the Timsah Lake and the Great Bitter Lake, along the Suez Canal, Egypt. Research was carried out from December 2019 to November 2020. A total of 14932 clam samples were collected (8465 specimens from Timsah Lake, and 6467 from the Great Bitter Lake) by SCUBA diving at a depth of five meters from the main commercial catches at Ismailia City, Egypt. The results revealed significant (P < 0.05) temporal and spatial differences in the mean length and weight values of the carpet clam throughout the sampling period and among the study sites. Conversely, there was no significant difference in the shell lengths and total weights between males and females. Regarding the length-weight relationship, the allometric coefficients (b) estimated in the current study for pooled samples, males and females combined revealed an isometric growth pattern (b = 3). The results of the ELEFAN I model of the assessed von Bertalanffy growth parameters of the carpet clam P. textile revealed a lower value of asymptotic length (L∞) at Timsah Lake (69.5 mm) than that at the Great Bitter Lake (73.9 mm). Further, Timsah Lake recorded higher values in the growth coefficient (K= 0.60 year-1) and the hypothetical age (to= -0.214) than the Great Bitter Lake (K= 0.51 year-1 and to= -0.249). The growth performance index (Φ’) was 3.462 and 3.445 for Timsah Lake and the Great Bitter Lake, respectively, indicating that the growth rates were high at both lakes. In addition, the longevity (tmax) of Timsah Lake clams (5.0 yr) was lower than that of Great Bitter Lake clams (5.8 yr).