Elephant Trunk
| Elephant Trunk | ||||||||||||
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Elephant Trunk ( Panopea generosa ) |
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| Panopea generosa | ||||||||||||
| Gould , 1850 |
The geoduck ( English elephant trunk clam or geoduck ; Panopea generosa ) is a Salzwassermuschelart from the family of Hiatellidae . Because of their size and shape, it is also King Clam ( English king clam ) or penis clam called. In the USA it is known as Geoduck , spoken [ ˈɡuː.iːdʌk ], a transcription variant of the Lushootseed word gʷídəq ( dig deep ).
Their habitat on the Pacific coast stretches from the United States to Canada . With a length of up to one meter and a weight of 0.5 to 1.5 kilograms, it is one of the largest mussel species in the world.
With an approximate life expectancy of 146 years, the oldest registered mussel being 160 years old, it is one of the longest-lived organisms in the animal kingdom, due to its low energy consumption. To feed, an elephant trunk clam sucks plankton through its long trunk, filters out nutrients, and excretes the rest through a separate hole in its trunk. Adult elephant trunk clams have very few natural predators, which adds to their longevity. In Alaska, these are predominantly sea otters , seals and starfish .
Economical meaning
The world's first elephant-trunk clam fishery opened in 1970, but demand for the clam was low at the time. In the United States, the animals now sell for around $ 65 per kilogram, and they are also very popular in China due to their unique taste and crispy skin. There they are also said to have a potency-increasing effect, among other things due to their penis-like shape.
The now high market value of this mussel gave rise to an industry in North America that has annual sales of around 80 million US dollars. There it is bred on special coastal farms in the US state of Washington and in the Canadian province of British Columbia . Due to increasing demand, private farms are growing in both the United States and Canada.
Seashell in the sand
Mussel breeding farm
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brent Vadopalas, Theodore W. Pietsch, Carolyn S. Friedman: The proper name for the geoduck: Resurrection of Panopea generosa Gould, 1850, from the synonymy of Panopea abrupta (Conrad, 1849) (Bivalvia: Myoida: Hiatellidae). Malacologia 52 (1): 169-173, 2010 doi : 10.4002 / 040.052.0111
- ↑ Geoduck . Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary
- ↑ Craig Welch: Geoducks: Happy as Clams. ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Smithsonian Magazine. March 2009 (English).
Web links
- ProSieben Galileo elephant-trunk clam (marketing in the USA) , September 26, 2012, video, 14:16 min
- Catch a copy on YouTube