Saxidomus gigantea, Washington butterclam : fisheries
Advertisement

You can sponsor this page

Saxidomus gigantea   (Deshayes, 1839)

Washington butterclam

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Saxidomus gigantea  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos 
 All pictures | Google image |
Image of Saxidomus gigantea (Washington butterclam)
Saxidomus gigantea
Picture by Coltro, Marcus

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Bivalvia | Venerida | Veneridae

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

Benthic; depth range 0 - 50 m (Ref. 356).  Temperate, preferred 5°C (Ref. 107945); 61°N - 37°N, 165°W - 122°W

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Eastern Pacific: from southeast Bering Sea and Prince William Sound, Alaska south to Monterey, California, USA.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 13.0 cm SHL male/unsexed; (Ref. 95344); max. reported age: 26 years (Ref. 122788)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Reported to be toxic in Alaskan communities, due to neurotoxins (saxitoxins, STXs) from ingested microalgae Alexandrium. Removal of all or part of the siphon is being practiced to reduce clam toxicity (Ref. 138447). Buries in substrate to depths of 30 cm along mid- to lower intertidal areas (Ref. 95344).

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

Lamb, A., D. Gibbs and C. Gibbs 2011 Strait of Georgia biodiversity in relation to bull kelp abundance. Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, 111p. (Ref. 93817)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Poisonous to eat (Ref. 138447)

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Physiology
Oxygen consumption
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

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

Estimates based on models

Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 71543)		 Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability
(Ref. 125649)		 High to very high vulnerability (73 of 100)
Price category
(Ref. 80766):		 Low.
Nutrients
 Calcium = 149 [71, 228] mg/100g; Iron = 8.53 [1.95, 15.11] mg/100g; Protein = 9.88 [8.64, 11.12] %; Omega3 = 0.313 [0.202, 0.423] g/100g; Selenium = 61 [50, 72] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 2.04 [0.56, 3.51] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.