Species: Macoma balthica
Tiny Pink Clam
Species
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Ecology and Life History
Food Comments
Feeds on detritus from sediment surface using incurrent siphon. Sediments up to 6 cm from the burrow may be taken and ingested. Also a suspension feeder when currents are strong or where it occurs in clean sand substrate. Marine clams are able to turn over large quantities of sediment in a short time period; this process increases the flow of solutes from the sediment into the water and stimulates growth of diatoms and other microalgae and bacteria, thereby enhancing their own food resources (O'Clair and O'Clair 1998).<br>
Reproduction Comments
Sexually mature at 8 to 10 mm; spawns late March and April (O'Clair and O'Clair 1998). Eggs and larvae are pelagic for a short period (2-5 weeks; Luttikhuizen et al. 2003). In England, most settlement of young clams occurs in April and May (O'Clair and O'Clair 1998). May live as long as 8 years with reduced growth and increased longevity at higher latitudes (e.g., Copper River Delta, Alaska; see Powers et al. 2002).
Ecology Comments
An important food source for coastal birds, especially during winter and migration stopover. Predators include ducks, shorebirds, and gulls. The preferred and principle prey during winter for Red Knot (<i>Calidris canutus</i>) and comprises the entire diet of the Pribilof Rock Sandpiper (<i>Calidris ptilocnemis ptilocnemis</i>) while wintering in Cook Inlet, Alaska (Reading and McGrorty 1978, Dames and Moore 1979, Zwarts and Blomert 1992, Rosier 1993, O'Clair and O'Clair 1998, Field and Field 1999, De Goeij 2001, Lees et al. 2001, Edelaar et al. 2002, Gill et al. 2002, Richman and Lovvorn 2003, Warnock et al. 2004). Siphons can be nipped off by bottom fish, crabs and shrimp, and constitute an important food for commercially important King (<i>Paralithodes camtschaticus</i>) and tanner crab (<i>Chionoecetes bairdi</i>) in Alaska (Weihs and Burrell 1978). The isopod <i>Saduria entomon</i> preys on both adult and newly settled juvenile clams (Lees et al. 2001).<br>
Distribution
Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Circumboreal. From the Beaufort Sea, Alaska, south to San Francisco Bay, California. Also occurs throughout the Bering and Okhotsk Seas to Japan. Off northern Europe, occurs in the North Sea (England, Norway and Denmark), Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, White Sea, in the waters of the Faroe Islands north to Iceland (but no records from Greenland), and as far south as Spain. On the western Atlantic coast, present from Labrador to Georgia (Bernard 1979, Coan et al. 2000, Vainola 2003).
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)