Deepwater Clam

Panopea zelandica

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–137 m
Water temperature9–18 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and September
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Arnim Littek, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Arnim Littek · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Panopea zelandica, commonly known as the deepwater clam or New Zealand geoduck, is a large species of marine bivalve mollusc in the Panopea (geoduck) genus of the family Hiatellidae. It is also sometimes called a king clam, or a gaper – in reference to the shell not being closed at either end.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Panopea zelandica”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 19 records
February: 14 records
March: 12 records
April: 17 records
May: 11 records
June: 19 records
July: 28 records
August: 21 records
September: 21 records
October: 20 records
November: 4 records
December: 13 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–137 m · Deepest record: 150 m

0–10 m: 11 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–18 °C

8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 20 records
16–18 °C: 10 records

Photos

(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Arnim Littek, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Genevieve Early, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Deepwater Clam, New Zealand Geoduck

Other scientific names: Panopaea zelandica, Panopea solandri

Similar species

Geoduck
Panopea generosa
Panopea australis
Arctic hiatella
Hiatella arctica
Australian Rock-Borer
Hiatella australis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
247 open-data records from 1897 to 2016.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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