Meretrix taiwanica (Bivalvia: Veneridae), a previously misidentified new species in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a new Asian hard clam, Meretrix taiwanica sp. n., found in the Tamsui River estuary in northern Taiwan. This species was formerly identified as M. lusoria, and was considered to be a descendant of a clam that originated in Japan. A molecular phylogenetic analysis, however, demonstrated that Meretrix taiwanica sp. n. is closely related to M. petechialis and M. lusoria. Meretrix taiwanica is distinguished by its smaller socket width and shorter posterior dorsal margin. This species is distributed throughout the coast of Taiwan on the southern coast of China.

KEYWORDS:

• Asian hard clams
• COI-DNA barcoding
• Meretrix lusoria
• Meretrix petechialis
• Tamsui River

Acknowledgements

We give special thanks to Director General Chun-Ju Chen and Chief Hsin-Ming Yeh of the Fisheries Research Institute for their support and guidance. We are grateful to Mr Jenn-Shing Hwang for assistance with specimen collection. This study (2018–2019) was supported by the Fisheries and Fishing Port Affairs Management Office, New Taipei City Government, Taiwan, ROC. We acknowledge the Managing Editor and Associate Editor of Molluscan Research and the reviewers for their valuable comments that improved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.