Home/Species/ Asiatic Clam

Corbicula fluminea

(Muller, 1774)

Asiatic Clam

G5Secure Found in 44 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

LowThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.109333

Element CodeIMBIV48010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

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

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumMollusca

ClassBivalvia

OrderVeneroida

FamilyCorbiculidae

GenusCorbicula

Concept Reference

Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.

Conservation Status

Review Date2007-02-08

Change Date2002-03-21

Edition Date2007-10-22

Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J. (2007)

Threat ImpactLow

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

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

This species is widespread and has invaded many countries globally.

Occurrences 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.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

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).

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Montana	SNA	No
Hawaii	SNA	No
Wyoming	SNA	No
New Jersey	SNA	No
Pennsylvania	SNA	No
Colorado	SNA	No
Massachusetts	SNA	No
Indiana	SNA	No
Nebraska	SNA	No
Oklahoma	SNA	No
Georgia	SNA	No
District of Columbia	SNA	No
Wisconsin	SNA	No
Idaho	SNA	No
Utah	SNA	No
Vermont	SNA	No
Washington	SNA	No
Minnesota	SNA	No
Alabama	SNA	No
North Carolina	SNA	No
Rhode Island	SNA	No
Delaware	SNA	No
Connecticut	SNA	No
Iowa	SNA	No
New York	SNA	No
South Carolina	SNA	No
Illinois	SNA	No
Arkansas	SNA	No
Kansas	SNA	No
Arizona	SNA	No
Missouri	SNA	No
Michigan	SNA	No
Kentucky	SNA	No
Texas	SNA	No
Louisiana	SNA	No
Virginia	SNA	No
Maryland	SNA	No
West Virginia	SNA	No
Mississippi	SNA	No

CanadaNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Ontario	SNA	No
Quebec	SNA	No
British Columbia	SNA	No

Roadless Areas (44)

Alabama (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Blue Mountain	Talladega National Forest	4,986
Oakey Mountain	Talladega National Forest	6,129

Arizona (6)

Area	Forest	Acres
Goldfield	Tonto National Forest	15,257
Hackberry	Coconino National Forest	17,885
Horse Mesa	Tonto National Forest	9,146
Lime Creek	Tonto National Forest	42,568
Mazatzal	Tonto National Forest	16,942
Muldoon	Prescott National Forest	5,821

Arkansas (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Mountain	Ouachita National Forest	1,910
Little Blakely	Ouachita National Forest	3,342

California (12)

Area	Forest	Acres
Barker Valley	Cleveland National Forest	11,940
Black Butte	Los Padres National Forest	5,116
Cajon	San Bernardino National Forest	7,548
City Creek	San Bernardino National Forest	9,997
Deep Creek	San Bernardino National Forest	23,869
Glass Mountain	Inyo National Forest	52,867
Granite Chief	Tahoe National Forest	6,546
Greenhorn Creek	Sequoia National Forest	28,226
Mill Creek	Sequoia National Forest	27,643
Salt Creek	Angeles National Forest	11,022
Tequepis	Los Padres National Forest	9,080
Tom Martin	Klamath National Forest	9,031

Kentucky (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Wolfpen	Daniel Boone National Forest	2,835

New Mexico (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Candian River	Cibola National Forest	7,149

Oregon (7)

Area	Forest	Acres
Eagle	Mt. Hood National Forest	16,841
Larch	Mt. Hood National Forest	12,961
Shasta Costa	Siskiyou National Forests	14,420
Snake River	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	31,229
Tahkenitch	Siuslaw National Forest	5,799
Tenmile	Siuslaw National Forest	10,818
Woahink	Siuslaw National Forest	5,309

Tennessee (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Devil's Backbone	Cherokee National Forest	4,287
Flint Mill Gap	Cherokee National Forest	9,494
Sampson Mountain Addition	Cherokee National Forest	3,064

Texas (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Winters Bayou	National Forests in Texas	730

Utah (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
418029	Uinta National Forest	15,673

Virginia (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Northern Massanutten	George Washington National Forest	9,444
Oliver Mountain	George Washington National Forest	13,090
Patterson Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	4,865
Price Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	9,119

Washington (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Abercrombie - Hooknose	Colville National Forest	33,862
Slide Ridge	Wenatchee National Forest	11,430
South Quinault	Olympic National Forest	11,081

West Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Middle Mountain	Monongahela National Forest	19,020

References (21)

Burch, T.A. 1995. Corbicula fluminea Muller (Mollusca: Bivalvia) established on Oahu. Bishop Musuem Occasional Papers, 42: 58.
Carlton, J.T. 1992. Introduced marine and estuarine mollusks of North America: and end-of-the-20th century perspective. Journal of Shellfish Research 11(2):489-505.
Cooper, J.E. 2007. Corbicula fluminea (Asian clam) in the Roanoke River, North Carolina: a stressed population? Southeastern Naturalist, 6(3): 413-434.
Cordeiro, J.R. and S. MacWilliams. 1999. Occurrence of the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea (Muller, 1774) (Bivalvia; Sphaeriacea; Corbiculidae) in Colorado. The Veliger, 42(3): 278-288.
Gordon, M.E. 1985. Mollusca of Frog Bayou, Arkansas. The Nautilus, 99(1): 6-9.
Gordon, M.E. 1991. Aquatic mollusca of the Rough River in the vicinity of the Fort Hartford Mine site, Ohio County, Kentucky. Unpublished final report for Environmental and Safety Designs, Memphis, Tennessee, 6 July 1991. 10 pp.
Howells, R.G., J.B. Wise, A.Y. Karatayev, and L.E. Burlakova. 2004. New "old records" of Asian clam Corbicula fluminea in Texas. Ellipsaria 6(3): 11-12.
Janech, M.. and R.D. Hunter. 1995. Corbicula fluminea in a Michigan river: implications for low temperature tolerance. Malacological Review, 28: 119-124.
Karatayev, A.Y., R.G. Howells, L.E. Burlakova, and B.D. Sewell. 2005. History of spread and current distribution of Corbicula fluminea (Muller) in Texas. Journal of Shellfish Research 24(2): 553-559.
Long, S. J., and S. Bunnett, eds. 1985. Suggested draft list of common names for mollusks occurring from America north of Mexico, American Malacological Union. Shells and Sea Life 17(2):48-85.
Lysne, S.J. and W.H. Clark. 2009. Mollusc survey of the lower Bruneau River, Owyhee County, Idaho, U.S.A. American Malacological Bulletin 27:167-172.
McGregor, S.W., T.E. Shepard, T.D. Richardson, and J.F. Fitzpatrick, Jr. 1999. A survey of the primary tributaries of the Alabama and Lower Tombigbee rivers for freshwater mussels, snails, and crayfish. Geological Survey of Alabama, Circular 196. 29 pp.
Pearce, T.A. and R. Evans. 2008. Freshwater Mollusca of Plummers Island, Maryland. Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington, 15: 20-30.
Pointier, J.-P., M. Yong, and A. Gutierrez. 2005. Guide to the Freshwater Molluscs of Cuba. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. 120 pp.
Schanzle, R.W., G.W. Kruse, J.A. Kath, R.A. Klocek, and K.S. Cummings. 2004. The freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) of the Fox River basin, Illinois and Wisconsin. Illinois Natural History Biological Notes, 141: 1-35.
Sovell, J.R. and R. Guralnick. 2005. Montane mollusc and crustacean survey of western Colorado. Final report to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado. 65 pp.
Tiemann, J.S.. 2006. Freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) survey of the Wakurusa River basin, Kansas. Transaction of the Kansas Academy of Science, 109(3/4): 221-230.
Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
Vaughn, C.C. and C.C. Hakenkamp. 2001. The functional role of burrowing bivalves in freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater Biology, 46: 1431-1446.
Werner, S. and K.-O. Rothhaupt. 2007. Effects of the invasive bivalve Corbicula fluminea on settleing juveniles and other benthic taxa. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 26(4): 673-680.
Williams, J.D., A.E. Bogan, and J.T. Garner. 2008. Freshwater Mussels of Alabama & the Mobile Basin in Georgia, Mississippi & Tennessee. University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 908 pp.