They're Here: Biologists Identify First Established Colonies of Invasive Clam in Northeastern US

Invasive clams confirmed along northeastern coastline

It all started with reports of "weird clams" around Provincetown in 2023.

They're here: Biologists identify first established colonies of invasive clam in northeastern US

A collaborative team of biologists led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MIT Sea Grant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Center for Coastal Studies has discovered that the invasive Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, has established itself along the northwestern Atlantic coastline—the last place in the Northern Hemisphere to have remained Manila-clam free. The team's findings, published in Biological Invasions, document an exceedingly rare moment when an invasive species first takes hold in a new environment and begins to spread.

Invasive but ‘delicious' clams confirmed along Massachusetts coastline

It all started with reports of “weird clams” around Provincetown in 2023. Then a 2025 text message led to a two-pronged investigation that ultimately...