Meretrix taiwanica

The clams present in Taiwan was misidentified as Meretrix lusoria or M. meretrix until 2023.^[3][4] Scientists conducting research on what they believed to be M. lusoria in the Tamsui River sent samples for genetic analysis and discovered that they were a genetically distinct species. M. lusoria was introduced into Taiwan for commercial cultivation during the Japanese colonial period and was believed to have outcompeted native clams. However, the new data suggests that M. lusoria were outcompeted by native M. taiwanica and died out soon after introduction.^[1]

An earlier research by Chinese scientists had already identified two separate lineages of M. petechialis in 2017. The 2023 study by Taiwanese scientists subsequently renamed the southern lineages as a separate species M. taiwanica.^[3]

• Taiwanica