Japanese hard clam total production thousand tonnes 1950-2022

''Meretrix lusoria'', the hamaguri, Asian hard clam or common Orient clam, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine

bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the family

Veneridae The Veneridae or venerids, common name: Venus (mythology), Venus clams, are a very large family of minute to large, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. Over 500 living species of venerid bivalves are known, most of which are edible, and m ...

, the Venus clams. This species is native to Asia, originally described around the waters of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is commercially exploited for

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

, and its shells are traditionally used to make white go stones. The hamaguri clam is the subject of a haiku by

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as th ...

Taxonomic difficulties

Distribution of Meretrix taiwanica per Hsiao et Chuang 2023

''Meretrix lusoria'' is morphologically similar to a number of closely related species, making identification and reports of distribution quite confusing. Less precise sources may describe a large range in East Asia, in waters tropic to temperate. However, as Hsiao & Chuang (2023) demonstrated using molecular (nuclear + mtDNA) and multi-variate morphological means, it is possible to distinguish several species: * ''Meretrix lusoria'', originally described around Japan, is distributed in the waters of Japan and South Korea. * '' Metetrix petechialis'' is distributed in China's East and Yellow seas. * '' Meretrix taiwanica'', misidentified as others on the list until 2023, is found around Taiwan and southern China. * '' Meretrix meretrix'', originally described by Linnaeus in the Indian Ocean, is found around Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. There is one report in 2022 of ''M. lusoria'' appearing in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

(

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

). The identification was confirmed by mtDNA phylogeny matching to Japanese ''M. lusoria''. Interestingly, what appeared morphologically to be ''M. meretrix'' and ''M. lyrata'' at the same site gave very similar mtDNA results.

Gallery

File:Clams sold in supermarkets.jpg File:Hamaguri Plaza ac (8).jpg File:房州はまぐりらーめん（房州らーめん・南房総市）20220903-P1002670.jpg, In

ramen is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...

File:Hamaguri sashimi.jpg, As

sashimi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or Raw meat, meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means 'pierced body', i.e., "wikt:刺身, 刺身" = ''sashimi'', whe ...

File:Kuwana Hokusai.jpg, Women baking ''hamaguri'' clams, print by

Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Gr ...

File:Peinture sur coquillage (musée d'art oriental, Venise) (15194854407).jpg, Painted ''hamaguri'' shell as a game piece for ''

Kai-awase ''Kai-awase'' (貝合わせ "shell-matching") is a Japanese game with shells, typically the shells of the ''hamaguri'' clam. The shells in the inside would have elaborate paintings, often depicting scenes from the ''Tale of Genji''. The aim of t ...

'', 18th century

References

Veneridae Bivalves of Asia Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Marine molluscs of Asia Bivalves described in 1798 Taxa named by Peter Friedrich Röding {{Veneridae-stub

Taxonomic difficulties

Gallery

See also

References