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Clam in pond?

wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
in Wildlife gardening
Ok this is a bit of an odd one. I was netting blanket weed out of the pond today (again :| ) and this tiny clam (or mussel?) came out with it. The pond is about 18 months old and is just a small wildlife pond with no flowing water. I was only netting weed from the surface so I don't know what the thing was attached to. It must have come in with some plants last year but is it normal for clams to turn up in ponds? It's not something I ever heard of before.




If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    There are native freshwater mussels in the UK although much rarer now than when I was a child  ... There are also mussels sold for ponds for filtering/cleaning  the water ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Are the ones sold for ponds non-invasive? The pond doesn't directly connect to any other water but my drains go to the local stream and I guess birds can spread eggs about. I don't want to be the source of an invasion of bivalves.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Just been checking my trusty Readers Digest Field Guide and see there are some freshwater cockles which look similar to yours.Maybe an Orb Shell Cockle? They can live in ponds and apparently drains The book does not say if they are invasive or not but I would guess not or we would see more.
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @wild edges  ... maybe contact someone here https://www.welshwildlife.org/where-i-live/local-groups/ and see if they can ID them for you?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    It’s a cockle.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    There are hundreds of these in my pond. The picture below is of a pot with barley straw that was submerged over summer and pulled up today. They presumably arrived with one of the pond plants that I ordered a few years ago. I'm a bit surprised that I can find very little information about them online. Does anyone have insights into their role, benefits or drawbacks?


  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    Could they be swan mussels?
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    @madpenguin they all seem to be quite small, around or below 10mm, whereas swan mussels can get quite large. They seem to be very similar to the one @wild edges showed at the start of this thread. Strange how hard it is to find any info on them!
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    @madpenguin , @wild edges  and others, many searches later .. it sounds like it could be a 'fingernail clam':


    Size: 9-11 mm across. This small freshwater bivalve mollusc is broadly oval and fairly globular with a central umbo. The colour of the shell is usually a brown to grey with the juveniles being more yellow colour. The surface is silky with very fine, irregular concentric growth ridges.

    That page is quite informative, it has a map of UK prevalence.
     

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