Laternula gracilis

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 1963
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record: 1963
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record:

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General Invasion History:

The clam Laternula gracilis was first described from Port Curtis, Australia, and has a broad native range in the Indo-West Pacific, from Vladivostok to Singapore and Tasmania (Golikov et al. 1976; Carlton 1979; Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2006; Tan et al. 2010). In 1963 and 1965, several specimens were found in Coos Bay, Oregon (Keen 1969, cited by Carlton 1979). Carlton considered it 'almost certainly established' but no further specimens were collected in Coos Bay (Carlton 1989). However, in 1995-1996, it was collected in Humboldt Bay, California, where the population appears to be established (Miller et al. 1999; Coan and Valentich-Scott, in Carlton 2007).

North American Invasion History:

Invasion History on the West Coast:

Two specimens of Laternula gracilis were collected in Coos Bay, Oregon in 1963, plus two more, and two valves in 1965 (Keen 1969, cited by Carlton 1979). No other specimens were collected in Coos Bay (Carlton 1989). However, in 1995-1996, 33 specimens were collected in northeast Humboldt Bay, California, where the population appears to be established (Miller et al. 1999; Coan and Valentich-Scott, in Carlton 2007). These specimens were found in mudflats in the high intertidal, sites that may have been missed by other surveys (Miller et al. 1999). Laternula gracilis is also reported to be established in Willapa Bay, Washington (in 1998, Chapman, pers. comm., cited by Boyd 2002; Wonham and Carlton 2005). Ballast water and transplants of oysters from Japan, are possible vectors (Miller et al. 1999).

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Description

Laternula gracilis from Asian populations can reach up to 45 mm in size, but the largest specimen from American populations was 20 mm (Miller et al. 1999). Its two valves are roughly elliptical, with an umbo in the center of the dorsal edge. The anterior shoulder is higher than the posterior one, so that the outline of the shell slopes below the umbo. The ligament connecting the valves is mostly internal, and both valves have a chondropore (a spoon like depression in the interior of the shell below the umbo) and lithodesma (a small, shell plate, covering the interior of the ligament). The shell has a pearly and a distinct pallial sinus (Miller et al. 1999; Coan et al. 2000; Coan and Valentich-Scott, in Carlton 2007).

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

The clam Laternula gracilis inhabits soft, silty and sandy sediments in high intertidal to subtidal mudflats. It has been collected at 20 m, but is much more common in shallow waters.

It tolerates salinities from 7 to 33 PSU, but grows best at 24-30 PSU (Kommendantov and Orlova 1991; Zhuang 2005). The optimal range of salinity for larval development was 17-27 PSU (Kommendantov and Orlova 1991; Zhuang 2005). Much of its food appears to consist of benthic diatoms and detritus, based on stable isotope analysis (Kanaya et al. 2008). Shells commonly grew to 45 mm in Taiwan (Hsueh 2003), but the largest specimen found in Coos Bay was 20 mm, while the largest in Humboldt Bay was 11.5 mm (Miller et al. 1999).

Food:

Phytoplankton

Trophic Status:

Suspension Feeder

SusFed

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Habitats

General Habitat	Unstructured Bottom	None
General Habitat	Salt-brackish marsh	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Tidal Range	Low Intertidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Endobenthic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Salinity (‰)	7	Experimental (Zhuang 2005)
Maximum Salinity (‰)	33	Experimental, highest tested (Zhuang 2005)
Minimum Reproductive Salinity	17	Optimal range for larval development (Kommendantov and Orlova 1991; Zhuang 2005).
Maximum Reproductive Salinity	27	Optimal range for larval development (Kommendantov and Orlova 1991; Zhuang 2005).
Minimum Duration	3	Larval duration at 25-27 C (Kommendantov and Orlova 1991).
Maximum Duration	4	Larval duration at 25-27 C (Kommendantov and Orlova 1991).
Minimum Length (mm)	20	Approximate size at spawning, Korea (Kang et al. 2006)
Maximum Length (mm)	55	In Asian populations, but the largest specimen in the only known American population was 11.5 mm (Miller et al. 1999).
Broad Temperature Range	None	Cold temperate-Tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

The clam Laternula gracilis is cultured for food in northern China (Zhuang 2005), but has had no economic or ecological impacts in North America.

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References

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2006-2014b OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database. <missing URL>



Appeltans, W. et al. 2011-2015 World Registry of Marine Species. <missing URL>



Boyd, Milton J.; Mulligan, Tim J; Shaughnessy, Frank J. (2002) <missing title>, California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento. Pp. 1-118

Carlton, James T. (1979) History, biogeography, and ecology of the introduced marine and estuarine invertebrates of the Pacific Coast of North America., Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Davis. Pp. 1-904

Carlton, James T. (1979) Introduced invertebrates of San Francisco Bay, In: Conomos, T. J.(Eds.) San Francisco Bay: The Urbanized Estuary. , San Francisco. Pp. 427-444

Carlton, James T. (1989) <missing title>, <missing publisher>, <missing place>. Pp. <missing location>

Carlton, James T. (Ed.) (2007) The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon Fourth Edition, Completely Revised and Expanded, University of California Press, Berkeley. Pp. <missing location>

Coan, Eugene V.; Valentich-Scott, Paul (2007) The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon, University of California Press, Berkeley CA. Pp. 807-859

Coan, Eugene V.; Valentich-Scott, Paul; Bernard, Frank R. (2000) Bivalve Seashells of Western North Ameira, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural history, Santa Barbara CA. Pp. <missing location>

Ferraro, Steven P.; Cole, Faith A. (2007) Benthic macrofauna-habitat associations in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 71: 491-507

GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) 2017-2023 GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). https://www.gbif.org/



Golikov, A. N. and 7 other editors. (1976) <missing title>, Nauk, Leningrad. Pp. <missing location>

Hsueh, Pan-Wen (2003) Responses of the pea crab Pinnotheres taichungae to the life history patterns of its primary bivalve host Laternula marilina, Journal of Natural History 37: 1453-1462

Huang, Zongguo (Ed.), Junda Lin (Translator) (2001) Marine Species and Their Distributions in China's Seas, Krieger, Malabar, FL. Pp. <missing location>

Kanaya, Gen; Takagi, Shigeto; Kikuchi, Eisuke (2008) Spatial dietary variations in Laternula marilina (Bivalva) and Hediste spp. (Polychaeta) along environmental gradients in two brackish lagoons, Marine Ecology Progress Series 359: 133-144

Kang, Chang-Keun and 5 authors (2006) Microphytobenthos seasonality determines growth and reproduction in intertidal bivalves, Marine Ecology Progress Series 315: 113-127

Kommendantov, A. Yu.; Orlova, M. I. (1991) [Effects of salinity on the development of the estuarine bivalve mollusk Laternula], Biologiya Morya 4: 99-102

Miller, Todd W., Coan, Eugene V., Chapman, John W. (1999) Rediscovery of the introduced, non-indigenous bivalve Laternula marilina (Reeve, 1860) (Laternulidae) in the northeastern Pacific, The Veliger 42(3): 282-284

Ruiz, Gregory M.; Geller, Jonathan (2018) Spatial and temporal analysis of marine invasions in California, Part II: Humboldt Bay, Marina del Re, Port Hueneme, and San Francisco Bay, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center & Moss Landing Laboratories, Edgewater MD, Moss Landing CA. Pp. <missing location>

Tan, Siong Kiat; Woo, Henrietta P. M. (2010) <missing title>, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Singapore. Pp. <missing location>

Wonham, Marjorie J.; Carlton, James T. (2005) Trends in marine biological invasions at local and regional scales: the Northeast Pacific Ocean as a model system, Biological Invasions 7: 369-392

Zhuang, Shuhong (2005) Influence of salinity, diurnal rhythm and daylength on feeding in Laternula marilina Reeve., Aquaculture Research 36: 130-136

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