1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful; buries in the sand.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Peaceful; buries in the sand.
Check your local laws. Restricted in several places. USA: Massachusetts makes it unlawful for any person to possess, sell or offer it for sale (322 CMR 6.10); Illinois bans importing or possessing it alive without a permit (not on the Approved Species List). New Zealand: an Unwanted Organism under the Biosecurity Act since August 2023, so it must not be knowingly moved or spread, and freshwater releases are illegal. Never release it or dump tank water into waterways. Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Good to know: Invasive in many regions.
Fine particles and phytoplankton.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Hermaphrodite that can fertilise itself; no sexes to tell apart.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Broadcast spawning · Hard
Self-fertilising hermaphrodite that broods its larvae in its gills and then releases tiny juveniles (about 0.2-1 mm) into the water when it is warmer than about 10 °C. A single clam can start a population, which is why it spreads so fast.
Any.
Sand tank.
Warm water.
Hundreds of larvae per day per clam (up to about 570-2,000), and tens of thousands to over 100,000 per year or lifetime.
Tiny clams.
A small, ribbed, yellowish to brown filter-feeding clam from Asia that is one of the world's worst freshwater invaders. It clogs water pipes and power-plant intakes, competes with native mussels, and has spread partly through bait buckets, food markets and aquarium releases.
Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller described this clam in 1774. Spread around the world in the 20th century, it is now one of the most widespread freshwater clams.
First described by Otto F. Müller in 1774.
12 facts checked with sources
Invertebrate (freshwater bivalve). Corbicula fluminea (O. F. Müller, 1774), accepted. Often confused with C. fluminalis, and invasive lineages differ (Wikipedia). TRADE WARNING: "golden clams" in the aquarium trade are often sold only as Corbicula sp.; Ng et al. 2016 found both C. fluminea and C. moltkiana in the Singapore trade.
MolluscaBase via WoRMS: Corbicula fluminea (AphiaID 181580, REST record) · Ng et al. 2016, PLoS ONE 11(8): e0161130, Molluscs for Sale: freshwater gastropods and bivalves in the ornamental pet trade (peer-reviewed)New value. Older literature (including some USGS pages) uses Corbiculidae.
MolluscaBase via WoRMS: Corbicula fluminea (AphiaID 181580, REST record)Shell length. Typical adults 2-3 cm; maximum about 5 cm. size-pick: legacy 3 cm kept as typical adult.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council (NZ) Pest Hub: Freshwater golden clam · South Carolina DNR: Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) · USGS NAS: Corbicula fluminea species profile (read via summarising fetch tool)A single clam can breed on its own. No source states a minimum group as such.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council (NZ) Pest Hub: Freshwater golden clamLegacy 1-4 years is short at the top end. Wikipedia lists a "short lifespan" as an invasion trait.
South Carolina DNR: Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) · USGS NAS: Corbicula fluminea species profile (read via summarising fetch tool)New value.
Wikipedia: Corbicula fluminea (cites USGS, Crespo et al. 2015, Karatayev et al. 2007, MPI) · University of Illinois Extension: Asian clamLegacy tip "Hermaphroditic" is right.
USGS NAS: Corbicula fluminea species profile (read via summarising fetch tool) · South Carolina DNR: Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)Legacy "broadcast spawning; releases larvae; any" is partly wrong: larvae are brooded in the gills before release, and it is self-fertile.
USGS NAS: Corbicula fluminea species profile (read via summarising fetch tool) · Wikipedia: Corbicula fluminea (cites USGS, Crespo et al. 2015, Karatayev et al. 2007, MPI) · Hawke's Bay Regional Council (NZ) Pest Hub: Freshwater golden clamFigures differ between sources (Wikipedia ref [21] vs SC DNR); legacy "Releases larvae" only.
Wikipedia: Corbicula fluminea (cites USGS, Crespo et al. 2015, Karatayev et al. 2007, MPI) · South Carolina DNR: Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)Legacy "needs steady food and clean water" is reasonable for a filter feeder but not stated by these sources; replaced with sourced text.
Ng et al. 2016, PLoS ONE 11(8): e0161130, Molluscs for Sale: freshwater gastropods and bivalves in the ornamental pet trade (peer-reviewed) · University of Illinois Extension: Asian clam · South Carolina DNR: Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)Cornell LII shows two versions of 322 CMR 6.10: the current one (amended eff. 9 May 2025) makes it unlawful for any person, including fishers and bait/seafood dealers, to possess, sell or offer for sale Asiatic freshwater clam; the prior version (eff. 3 Jan 2025) prohibited importation, possession and transportation by any person. Quotes join the regulation's line-broken text. Other US states, EU and UK rules were not checked (C. fluminea was not confirmed on the EU invasive species list here). Legacy text "restricted in several countries" is right in substance but vague.
322 CMR 6.10 (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries regulation, via Cornell LII) · University of Illinois Extension: Asian clam · Hawke's Bay Regional Council (NZ) Pest Hub: Freshwater golden clam