''Glycymeris yessoensis'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of bivalve mollusc in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Glycymerididae Glycymerididae, often misspelled as Glycymeridae, common names dog cockles or bittersweets, is a worldwide family of salt water clams, marine bivalve mollusks in the order Arcida. They are related to the ark clams. This family contains 45 extan ...

. It can be found burrowing in soft sediment in shallow water in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

around the coasts of China and Japan. It is often associated with a

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...

worm with which it forms a

commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fro ...

relationship.

Taxonomy and evolution

This species was first described by the British

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

George Brettingham Sowerby III George Brettingham Sowerby III (16 September 1843 – 31 January 1921) was a British conchologist, publisher, and illustrator. He, too, worked (like his father George Brettingham Sowerby II and his grandfather George Brettingham Sowerby I) on the ...

in 1889 (or 1888). It has a long fossil record, having been found in formations in southwestern

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...

dating back to the lower middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, with numerous occurrences in the Neogene and Quaternary periods in northern Japan. In the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s it is possible to observe changing patterns of drilling predation over the aeons, with the sites of drill holes varying with time, perhaps due to a change in the principle predators, from ''

Glossaulax ''Glossaulax'' is a genus of large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Naticidae, the moon snails.Bouchet, P. (2012). Glossaulax Pilsbry, 1929. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org ...

'' to '' Cryptonatica''. Almost unispecific beds of fossils of ''Glycymeris yessoensis'' are found in the Onma Formation in central Japan.

Distribution and habitat

''Glycymeris yessoensis'' is native to the north central

where it occurs in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour ter ...

and the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

, its range extending as far north as the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

. It is found burrowing in sand at depths ranging between the intertidal zone and .

Ecology

''Glycymeris yessoensis'' can live for 45 years. It is a filter feeder, drawing water in through one siphon and expelling it through another. It often acts as a

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

to the boring polychaete worm '' Polydora glycymerica''. This worm burrows into the bivalve's shell creating a U-shaped burrow near the mollusc's siphon, intercepting some of the food particles from the feeding current created by the mollusc.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13643602 yessoensis Molluscs described in 1889