Asian Clam

This clam originally occurs in freshwater environments of Eastern Asia, including Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. C. fluminea also occurs naturally in freshwater environments of Africa.

Corbicula fluminea is an active suspension feeder, and in the process of feeding by pumping water through its body (as well as feeding on interstitial sedimentary material via pedal feeding when suspended grazing items are limited). They feed primarily on phytoplankton (algae), which they actively filter out the water, but may pedal feed on organic matter in the sandy or muddy bottoms of streams, lakes, or canals where the clam establishes a population.

Corbicula fluminea enjoys several physiological capabilities which are advantageous in promoting its invasion of novel lentic/lotic environments including:

Short lifespan paired with high fecundity

Fast rate of water filtration for suspension feeding

Ability to broadcast gametes over a broad area by utilizing water flow (in rivers)

Tolerance of a wide variety of substrate/habitat types

Corbicula fluminea is a self-fertilizing, simultaneous hermaphrodite which can asexually produce internally-brooded, semi-buoyant planktonic larvae when spermiogenesis is induced at temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F). This allows C. fluminea to colonize novel habitats at an advanced rate.

Right after reaching maturity, these clams produce eggs, followed by sperm. Throughout adult life, Corbicula is a self-fertile simultaneous hermaphrodite which can broadcast spawn up to 570 mucoid larvae per day per individual, and more than 68,000 per year per individual. Larvae are ~200 microns in length when discharged from an adult and dispersed through water until becoming sessile adults. Adults can reach a length of about 5 centimetres (2.0 in).