Asian clams: Change salinity of the water

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    65%
  • Certainty
    68%
  • Harms
    not assessed

Study locations

Key messages

  • A controlled, replicated laboratory study conducted in the USA found that Asian clams were killed (100% mortality) when exposed to high salinities (18-34‰).

 

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A controlled, replicated laboratory study conducted in 1978 on specimens from a stream in Florida, USA (Gainey, 1978) found that placing Asian clams Corbicula spp. in high salinity water resulted in 100% mortality. Clams survived in salinities of up to 10% for two months. Salinities between 18 and 34% led to 100% mortality within 10 days. Clams were transferred from a stream to 10 x 6 litre tanks containing stream water to acclimate. Ten clams were placed in each treatment tank. Following initial acclimation, the clams were placed in salinities from 0.5-40 parts per thousand. Valve movements were recorded and survival checked daily. Salinity levels were considered lethal if mortality was observed in at least 50% of the clams.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Aldridge, D., Ockendon, N., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Some Aspects of Control of Freshwater Invasive Species. Pages 555-87 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species
Control of Freshwater Invasive Species

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species - Published 2017

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species Synopsis

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