Asian Clam

Fascinating facts about the Asian Clam

• Each Asian clam is a self-fertile simultaneous hermaphrodite that can broadcast up to 570 mucoid larvae per day, and may release more than 68,000 larvae per year. The larvae are about 200 µm long when released, after which they drift in the water column before settling as sessile adults.
• When released, the clam's larvae are about 200 microns long and are dispersed through the water until they become sessile adults. An adult can release more than 68 000 larvae each year, greatly enhancing its colonisation potential.
• Dense Asian clam beds can strip up to 70% of phytoplankton from river water. This reduction in phytoplankton is linked to lower dissolved-oxygen levels in the water, affecting other aquatic organisms.
• Asian clams cause massive economic damage by clogging plumbing, heat exchangers and other water infrastructure, a problem that has already generated billions of dollars in repair costs. The clams excrete huge amounts of inorganic chemicals, chiefly nitrogen and phosphorus, into the water they filter. This nutrient release fuels algal and cyanobacterial blooms, which further degrade water quality and increase maintenance burdens for human-built systems.
• The first Western-hemisphere record of Asian clams comes from British Columbia around 1924, after which the species rapidly spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and down through South America. In Europe and Central America the invasion was later, with the first Caribbean detections in 1998. Today the clam occupies continents from Europe to New Zealand, establishing populations in rivers, lakes and canals across the globe.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Asian Clam

In the languid waters of its native habitats, the Asian Clam navigates the currents with a gentle, almost ethereal quality, its delicate shell a masterful blend of form and function as it sifts the riverbed for sustenance. With each subtle movement, it stirs the sediment, releasing a soft plume of particulate matter that dances in the sunlight, a mesmerizing display of the intricate interplay between creature and environment. As it burrows into the river's depths, the Asian Clam leaves behind a trail of tiny, telltale holes, a testament to its quiet, unassuming presence in this serene and hidden world.

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