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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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New Species of Wood-Munching Clams Found

A new species of pea-shaped wood-munching clams shaped like little penises has been discovered at the bottom of the ocean.

(CN) – A new species of pea-shaped wood-munching clams shaped like little penises has been discovered at the bottom of the ocean.

Wood-eating clams are sometimes confused with shipworms for their habit of colonizing sunken ships as well as fallen trees, but are a distinct group that along with termites, are some of the only animals on that eat wood. And now scientists have determined there are more species out there than were previously thought. In a new paper in the Journal of Molluscan Studies, researchers have updated the deep-sea wood-boring clam family tree with three new genus groups and one new species.

The newly described clams have a special tube-like organ called a siphon that enables them to extend out from their shell and into the ocean water to extract oxygen with their gills. The clams eat wood that has made its way to the bottom of the ocean, feasting on trees, logs and manmade wooden objects.

To feed, they flex muscles and rock their shells to grind down the wood. They then eat the sawdust and digest it with special bacteria found in their gills.

“There's not just one tree-cleaner-upper in the ocean, they're really diverse,” said lead author Janet Voight, associate curator of invertebrate zoology at the Field Museum, in a statement. “Imagine living at the bottom of the ocean as a tiny swimming clam; you either have to find a sunken piece of wood or die. You wouldn't think there'd be that many kinds of clams doing this. But we've now found that there are six different groups, called genera, and around 60 different species.”

Voight and her colleagues examined a wide variety of members of the deep-sea wood-eating clam family. By looking at the clams themselves and studying their DNA, the researchers determined that there are at least six different genera that make up the family. Three of these are described for the first time in the paper. The researchers also determined there is one previously undiscovered species lurking in museum collections of these clams.

The new genera are named Abiditoconus(hidden cone), Spiniapex(spiny tip), and Feaya. These clams are tiny, some with shells smaller than a pea. They settle in massive numbers and play an important role in deep-sea ecosystems.

“We have no idea how much wood is at the bottom of the ocean, but there's probably a lot more than we think,” says Voight. “After big storms, we estimate that millions of tons of wood are washed out to sea. What if these clams weren't there to help eat it? Think how long it would take the wood to rot.

“The clams contribute to the cycling of carbon, they play an integral part in making the wood into something that the other animals at the bottom of the ocean can get energy from. It could even affect sea level rise. It blows me away.”

Categories / Environment, Science

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