See a crab, post a crab. Also bonus of my hermit crab Saul who is not a true crab

The Japanese littleneck or Manila clam (Ruditapes phippinarum) is a widely eaten clam native to Asia that has spread to Western N. America and Europe. A recent study confirmed from iNaturalist observations that it is now on the American East coast, giving it a global home run of invasions (361)

we got it through. never tell me the odds.

Atlantic scallops swim to join 100s of friends in spawning "aggregations" (an orgy!). The northern edge of Georges Bank is an aggregation area, and has for years been protected as a source of scallop larvae. The Trump admin threw those protections out the window after lobbying by fishermen (356)

Hoverfly feetsies

🥺

Corbicula fluminea (the golden clam, from Asia) has invaded freshwater environments around the world, including most of the US, aided by clonal reproduction, eating pretty much anything it can grab, and great environmental flexibility. (355)

Unpopular opinion: the reflecting pool is dumb and it's silly to fight algae growing in a shallow warm artificial pool. Lean into the algae growing aspect and make it a giant algal culture raceway. www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

Contrary to their name, American oystercatchers don't *just* eat oysters. In one study, around 1/3 of their diet was actually sand crabs. But they do eat a lot of bivalves, using their chisel-like, fast-growing bills to smash or pry open oysters, mussels and other intertidal bivalves! Murder! (353)

Oysters are often farmed in floating cages or bags. This way they are protected from many predators, and floating near the surface they are always among the the tasty phytoplankton that are their preferred food, rather than having to wait for the plankton to sink to the bottom! (352)

I got a box. There was an office chair in it but that was secondary to the box part

Page views of the Wikipedia for methyl methacrylate went up 300x earlier this week! pageviews.wmcloud.org?project=en.w...

Larval oysters have an eye which can detect wavelength and intensity of light. They use the ratio of red and blue light to determine the correct depth at which to settle and attach to the bottom, working from the principle that red light doesn't penetrate as far into the water as blue light! (351)

In the Philippines, shipworms (bivalves that eat wood) are called tamilok and are often eaten raw, marinated in citrus in a ceviche-like dish called kinilaw. They also can be deep fried. The taste has been compared to oysters! Some researchers are trying to develop it as a sustainable seafood! (350)

If a bivalve shell has a big honkin snoot off to one side, it is called 'rostrate'. Such structures are often a sign of a big siphon. In the most extreme cases, such as for Cuspidaria, it can a sign of carnivory, with them sucking up prey! All the better to eat copepods with! (349)

Rialto in El Cerrito is very cool

They actually have found a few of them preserved in situ! Here's my fave. Amazing specimen www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?p...

It is surprisingly common to find whole clam shells in everyday neighborhood concrete, since they often use gravel mined from shallow aquatic environments. The legendary Tim Pearce from Carnegie Museum wrote about finding invasive Corbicula clams in a sidewalk! (345) carnegiemnh.org/clams-in-the...

I am a very specific kind of reply guy. If someone jokes about the appearance of geoducks (Panopea), I must appear and remind them THEY👏LOOKED👏LIKE👏THAT👏FIRST since the Jurassic!! (344)

Parthenogensis (clonal reproduction of females) is pretty unusual. Corbicula fluminea is in an even smaller club: it has androgenesis! They're hermaphrodite and reproduce asexually, but only the paternal genome is passed on! This clonal reproduction helps it be a notorious invasive species (341)

Bathymodiolus mussels can be found at deep ocean geothermal vents, cold methane seeps, decomposing whalefalls, and other spots which other life might find toxic. But because their gills are packed with sulfur-oxidizing and methane-eating bacteria, they use these compounds as food! (338)

Same energy

Anyone got a high res version? For North Carolina, the 8 looks like mostly Dinocardium robusta, the giant Atlantic cockle. The 6 probably the same but stained by anoxic sediment. The 4+7 look like a mix of Crassostrea virginica (Eastern oyster) and Geukensia demissa (Eastern ribbed mussel)

Sometimesin the intertidal, the only evidence of clams will be their siphons poking out of the substrate like snorkels. Fortunately they often can still be identified by their siphons, which can be fused or separate depending on species ecology.wa.gov/blog/july-20... (336)