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Mya arenaria   Linnaeus, 1758

Softshell clam
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Mya arenaria

Canada country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: brackish
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: never/rarely | Ref:
Regulations: no regulations | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Known from eastern Canada (Ref. 83434) particularly in Gulf of St. Lawrence (Ref. 7726) and Pacific Northwest region (Ref. 94194). C: Refs. 2823, 7726, 83434, 93817; R: Ref. 94194.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.ncr.dfo.ca/home_e.htm
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Harvey-Clark, C., 1997
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Softshell, ... more

Classification / Names / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS

Bivalvia > Myida () > Myidae ()

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; brackish; depth range 0 - 192 m (Ref. 78574), usually 0 - 25 m (Ref. 75831).   Temperate, preferred 9°C (Ref. 107945); 77°N - 33°N, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 113928)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Northwest Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Virginia, North Sea and European waters including the Black, Baltic, Wadden, White and Mediterranean seas, and northeast Pacific from San Francisco to Alaska.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 10.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7726); max. reported age: 8 years (Ref. 2823)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Minimum depth from Ref. 101279. Maximum depth recorded is 329 m (Ref. 101279). Lives in burrows in sand, mud, sandy mud and sandy gravels from the mid shore to the shallow sublittoral, sometimes to a depth of 192 m (Ref. 78574). Commonly found in estuarine areas, buried in substrate 10 to 20 cm deep (Ref. 95344). In the Vainameri (north-eastern Baltic Sea), abundant in silty substrate (Ref. 95753). Deposit/filter feeders (Ref. 95728). Identified as an ecologically important benthic species of the Baltic Sea, mainly as part of the food base of fishes and its contribution to biofiltration and biosedimentation processes (Ref. 95774). A microvore that feeds on organic detritus (Ref. 96352). Found both in intertidal mudflat and estuary (Ref. 2823).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the class Bivalvia are mostly gonochoric, some are protandric hermaphrodites. Life cycle: Embryos develop into free-swimming trocophore larvae, succeeded by the bivalve veliger, resembling a miniature clam.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Harvey-Clark, C. 1997. (Ref. 7726)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: ; publication : search) | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 6.4 - 14.5, mean 10.9 (based on 360 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278) Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.14-0.48; tmax=8).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Moderate vulnerability (39 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): High.