M. arenaria is a valuable food source for migrating shorebirds along the Pacific coast of the United States (Carlton, 1977). Fish, sandworms, crabs, rays, sharks, flounder, gulls, sea otters, raccoons, and wading birds, (Tyler-Walters, 2003). Staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) also prey upon M. arenaria. M. arenaria is important to U.S. fishery (on the US east coast), and is also an important research species (Tyler-Walters, 2003). As a suspension feeder, it plays a crucial role in filtering and cleaning water sources, and can be used as a tool in regulating and enforcing pollution standards in water quality control (UK Biodiveristy Group, 1999).
Principal source: Cohen, A. N., Guide to the Exotic Species of San Fransico Bay, San Fransico Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA, June 7, 2005.
Compiler: National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
Review: Dr. James (Jeb) Byers, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Zoology, Department of Zoology University of New Hampshire. USA
Publication date: 2007-07-31
Recommended citation: Global Invasive Species Database (2024) Species profile: Mya arenaria. Downloaded from http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=1159 on 07-10-2024.
Human use in fisheries for harvest as a food source has made this species well established in its non-native range, making eradication infeasible (Hoagland & Jin, 2006).
Physical: Management reccomendations include remediation of over-harvested and polluted sites to reestablish an increase in species biodiversity, thereby maintaining predation interaction (UK Biodiveristy Group, 1999).