Following the detection of the invasive Asian clam at the Lake Taupō Aqua Park, Biosecurity New Zealand has enacted a temporary shutdown of the facility.
The organisation is urging visitors from the past two weeks to adopt preventative measures against the clam’s spread.
Previously identified in the Waikato River and implicated in the closure of Lake Ōkataina in Rotorua, the Asian clam (also known as the ‘Gold clam’, ‘Prosperity clam’ or ‘Pygmy clam’) poses a significant risk to native ecosystems. Its rapid reproduction and expansive population growth threaten both biodiversity and water infrastructure.
John Walsh, Biosecurity New Zealand’s Director of Readiness and Response told legacy media the closure was necessary to mitigate further dispersion. He advised recent park visitors to sterilise swimwear and towels to prevent transporting the clams to other water bodies.
Discovered during a routine check after positive environmental DNA findings, the clam’s presence in the aqua park’s lagoon has been successfully contained, with no evidence of spread to nearby waterways. The lagoon’s isolated water system significantly reduces the risk of natural dispersal, though controlling human activity was still important to curb the clam’s reach.
The clam originally occurs in freshwater environments of Eastern Asia, including Thailand, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia and Japan.
Biosecurity New Zealand continues its surveillance efforts in the area and maintains a national watch for the clam, focusing on preventing its expansion from current hotspots. Further details and updates on the situation and biosecurity efforts are available on the Biosecurity New Zealand website.
Image credit: USGS, Public Domain
Kinda like the Zebra Mussel in the Great Lakes!
They have, however, cleaned and filtered the water of the Great Lakes, but also attach to water treatment grates, shipwrecks, etc. They arrived in the ballast water of ships from Europe.
But those..CLAMS!!!
The Bearded Clam, the Shaved Clam, the Dripping Clam, the Orgasmic Clam…you never know where those Bivalves will end-up, and what they might be carrying!
How did they get here? Are they aliens seeded by a UFO? Is this an effort at unilateral warfare by another country or planet?
I’m nervous now…! Gotta take my Prozac, while I contemplate the Great Clam!
Is it clam warfare? An insidious infiltration of molluscs? Ew!
Not to mention what the Sacllops and Oysters are up to these days…
Maybe they too have been vaccinated or are now drug-addicted due to the illegal cook-up going thru the sewage treatment plants, and the flushed out to sea, where ALL of those bottom-feeding Bivalves are getting high, sick, etc.
Maybe they’re shedding Covid to other shelled creatures…
BUT- those CLAMS! I wonder if any require child maintenance or alimony as per judgement ruling by King Triton…!
I would eat them….