The geoduck is a species of very large, edible, saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae. The geoduck is native to the west coast of North America. The shell of the clam ranges from 15 cm to over 20 cm in length. The geoduck is both one of the largest clams in the world and one of the longest-lived animals of any type. The name of this clam is derived from a Lushootseed word.
It is sometimes known as the mud duck, king clam or when translated literally from Chinese, the elephant-trunk clam. A geoduck sucks water containing plankton down through its long siphon, filters this for food and ejects its refuse out through a separate hole in the siphon. A female geoduck produces about 5 billion eggs in her century-long lifespan.
J. Patrick Fischer /CC BY-SA 3.0 | Geoducks
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