Asian Clams

Asian Clam sample collected from Sucker Brook, Owasco Lake September 2010

Common Names:Asian Clam, Golden Clam, Golden Freshwater Clam, Prosperity Clam, Good Luck Clam
Animalia, Mollusca, Bivalva, Veneroida, Corbiculidae, Corbicula (Genus), Fluminea (Species)
Scientific Name: Corbicula fluminea
Close relative: Corbicula fluminalis
*Smaller in size; has 13 to 28 ribs per centimeter; rounder, heartshaped

Distinguishing features:

• 7 to 14 elevated ridges per centimeter; 1:1 width: height ratio; flatter, tear-shaped; notched broad end
• Three triangular cardinal teeth in each valve below the umbo
• Two sets of lateral teeth in each valve moderately long, straight and serrated
• Paired in the right valve
• One on each side in the left valve
• Deep beak cavity
• Highly polished outside of pallial line (inner shell edge)
• Inner shell layer white or purple
• Yellow, brown, black exterior color
• Can reach 2.4" in length
• Differs from the Fingernail clam by the presence of serrated lateral teeth
• Corbicula ID Powerpoint by Dave MacNeill, NY SeaGrant

Introduction:

• Koi and Aquarium trade and food market
• Clam is exploited and harvested
• Fishbait

Impact of settlement: replacement of native species, clogged water intake pipes, triggered algal blooms

Habitat: Thrives in fast flowing water as a constant food supply; sandy, muddy bottoms of streams, lakes, and canals

• Feeds on phytoplankton and microscopic organisms
• Can accumulate metals within the organism
• Feed pedally from the sediment, undoubtedly feed on bacteria

Reproduction: hermaphroditic, self-fertilizer

• Larval release occurs biannually in spring and late summer
• Produces up to 400 - 2,000 juveniles per day and up to 100,000 per lifetime
• Juveniles 1 mm long when discharged
• Takes 1 to 4 years to mature (1 cm- 5cm)
• An established settlement can have from 100-200 clams per square meter up to 3000 per square meter
• Densities have exceeded 8000 per square meter in the Lake George population

In the Finger Lakes: According to the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database there is only one established Asian clam site in the Finger Lakes and it is on Seneca Lake at the NYSEG generating station just south of Sampson State Park.  Samples have also been collected by FLI staff at the outlet of Castle Creek in Geneva in the Summer of 2008. After closer examination of a sample collected in the proximity of Sucker Brook on Owasco Lake in September 2010, it was confirmed by a number of experts that Asian clam has been established there as well. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species --- Report a Finding

Research on Asian Clams:

• FRESH-WATER MOLLUSCA OF THE FINGER LAKESREGION OF NEW YORK
• Potential effects of Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) die-offs on native freshwater mussels (Unionidae) I: water-column ammonia levels and ammonia toxicity
• First record of Corbicula fluminalis (Müller, 1774) in Lake Garda (Italy), living in sympatry with Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774)
• Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) of Lake Tahoe: Preliminary scientific findings in support of a management plan
• Rapid Assessment of Water Quality Using the Fingernail Clam, Musculium transversum
• Mantle and gill fine structure in the freshwater Asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea (Miiller)
• THE EFFECT OF DIEOFFS OF ASIAN CLAMS (CORBICULA FLUMINEA) ON NATIVE FRESHWATER MUSSELS (UNIONIDAE)
• Energy metabolism and valve closure behaviour in the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea

Learn from our Neighbors

Lake George:

• Lake George Fact Sheet: Asian Clams
• Lake George Asian Clam Rapid Response Task Force
• Plan to Eradicate the Infestation of the Invasive Species Asian Clam in Lake George
• Asian Clams in Lake George November 2010 Update

Lake Tahoe

• ASIAN CLAM, A NEW NEARSHORE INVASIVE SPECIES IN LAKE TAHOE: Non‐native introductions to Lake Tahoe
• UCDavis Tahoe Environmental Research Center – Aquatic Invasive Species