Corbicula fluminea

The Asiatic clam is found throughout Asia, North and South America, Europe and parts of Africa. The clam occurs primarily in streams south of 40 degrees latitude in the northern hemisphere.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native ); neotropical (Native )

Atlantic Europe, Elbe, Germany, Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone, Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone, United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone

The type locality for this species is the estuary of the Artemovka River, Primorski, Russia. The distribution of this species includes southeast Siberia, southern Primorski and 'the south of the Russian Far East' (Lindholm 1928, Bogatov and Starobogatov 1994, Kantor et al. 2009). It is also found in Korea (Graf and Kummings 2011).

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Freshwater

The Asiatic clam prefers a lake or stream that has a a sandy or gravel substrate. However, they are also located underneath large boulders and in soft silts of deepwater lakes. The clam thrives better in fast flowing waters because the currents supply a constant source of the particulate food that the clam consumes.

Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds; rivers and streams

Depth range based on 258 specimens in 1 taxon.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): -99 - 22.5

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): -99 - 22.5
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Habitat Type: Freshwater

Comments: This species can survive in almost any freshwater environment, including brackish and estuarine waters, that is permanent (Carlton, 1992). In a study of the relationships of 12 environmental variables to density oand biomass of Corbicula fluminea, higher density and biomass were found to be correlated to where substrate was > 40% fine sand, < 45% silt, and < 8% organic content (Cooper, 2007).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

The Asiatic clam is a filter-feeding bivalve. It filters microscopic organisms, such as plankton, from the water.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: > 300

Comments: One of the farthest northerly records is in the Clinton River in southeastern Michigan from before 1990 (Janech and Hunter, 1995). This species has been documented in Colorado (Cordeiro and MacWilliams, 1999) and is expanding in that state (Sovell and Guralnick, 2005). Recently it has been found in a number of permanent water bodies at the central and western regions of Cuba (Pointier et al., 2005). This species is apparently rare in the Fox River basin in Illinois and Wisconsin as a recent comprehensive survey found it alive at only a single tributary in Illinois (none in Wisconsin portion) (Schanzle et al., 2004). It occurs throughout the Rough River (Green basin), Kentucky (Gordon, 1991). In Alabama it occurs in most of the statre and the Mobile Basin except for the Blackwater, Perdido and Escatawpa Rivers and some direct tributaries of Mobile Bay (Williams et al., 2008; McGregor et al., 1999). Pearce and Evans (2008) documented it in Plummers Island (Middle Potomac River system), Maryland. Lysne and Clark (2009) found it in the Bruneau River (survey area from Snake River confluence upstream to Hot Creek- 41 km) in Idaho.

>1,000,000 individuals

The Asiatic clam is hermaphroditic, with single genopores on each sides of the body. Reproduction and larval release occurs biannually in the spring and in the late summer. The clam is believed to practice self-fertilization, enabling rapid colony regeneration when colony populations are low.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 15
Specimens with Barcodes: 18
Species With Barcodes: 1

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 13 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

Historically, wild populations of the Asiatic clam were exploited and harvested, to the extent that , locally, the clams once faced endangerment or extinction. Today, the clam thrives throughout the world.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: no special status

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: This species is widespread and has invaded many countries globally.

Environmental Specificity: Broad. Generalist or community with all key requirements common.

Comments: This species can survive in almost any freshwater environment, including brackish and estuarine waters, that is permanent (Carlton, 1992). In a study of the relationships of 12 environmental variables to density oand biomass of Corbicula fluminea, higher density and biomass were found to be correlated to where substrate was > 40% fine sand, < 45% silt, and < 8% organic content (Cooper, 2007).

Population

Population Trend

Global Short Term Trend: Increase of 10 to >25%

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of >25%

Degree of Threat: Low

Major Threats

Conservation Actions

Global Protection: Unknown whether any occurrences are appropriately protected and managed

The clam creates a problem for power plants by blocking the ventalation systems and the water intake valves. Combined costs of outages, reductions in efficiency, capital investment in equipment, labor and chemical control, exceed 1 billion annually.

The Asiatic clam is a major source of food and is harvested by humans throughout the world. The clam, when removed from its shell, also makes good fishbait.