Evergreen Natural History Database

Common name(s): Manila clam, Japanese littleneck

Size:
Up to 75mm

Range:
Northern British Columbia, Canada to California

Habitat:
Intertidal to 10 m. Preferring shelly or gravely mud or sand on low energy, stable beaches

Misidentification:
Protothaca staminea

Life History:
An introduced species, accidentally arriving with the commercial importation of Crassostrea gigas and now supplanting the native Protothaca staminea. Maturing when the shell reaches 15 mm this species spawns once per year between May and September when the water temperatures exceed 15^o C.

Predators:
Polinices lewisii, Pisaster_ spp., Cancer spp.

Synonyms: Venerupis philippinarum

*"Size" refers to shell length only and only gives the largest average size for the given species.

Last updated Tuesday, August 29, 2006, by Lisa Ferrier