meretrix lusoria

{{Redirect|Hamaguri|Hamaguri Gate in Kyoto, and the coup attempt that took place at the gate|Kinmon Incident}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Meretrix lusoria.jpg

| image2 = Kuwana no Yakihamaguri.jpg

| genus = Meretrix

| species = lusoria

| authority = Röding, 1798

}}

File:Japanese hard clam total production thousand tonnes 1950-2022.svg{{Cite web |title=Fisheries and Aquaculture - Global Production |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production?lang=en |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)}}]]

Meretrix lusoria, the hamaguri, Asian hard clam or common Orient clam, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. This species is native to Asia, originally described around the waters of Japan.{{cite journal |first1=Sheng-Tai |last1=Hsiao |first2=Shih-Chang |last2=Chuang |title=Meretrix taiwanica (Bivalvia: Veneridae), a previously misidentified new species in Taiwan |journal=Molluscan Research |date=2023 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=12–21 |doi=10.1080/13235818.2023.2189428 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |language=en |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023MollR..43...12H }} It is commercially exploited for sushi, and its shells are traditionally used to make white go stones.

The hamaguri clam is the subject of a haiku by Matsuo Bashō.{{Cite web | url=https://matsuobashohaiku.home.blog/2019/09/26/closure/ | title=Closure, the final haiku| date=2019-09-26}}

Taxonomic difficulties

File:Distribution of Meretrix taiwanica per Hsiao et Chuang 2023.svg

Meretrix lusoria is morphologically similar to a number of closely related species, making identification and reports of distribution quite confusing. Less precise sources may describe a large range in East Asia, in waters tropic to temperate.{{Cite web|url=https://invasions.si.edu/nemesis/calnemo/SpeciesSummary.jsp?TSN=-206|title=NEMESIS Database Species Summary|last=Hagan|first=Melissa|website=invasions.si.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-10-24}} However, as Hsiao & Chuang (2023) demonstrated using molecular (nuclear + mtDNA) and multi-variate morphological means, it is possible to distinguish several species:

Meretrix lusoria, originally described around Japan, is distributed in the waters of Japan and South Korea.
Metetrix petechialis is distributed in China's East and Yellow seas.
Meretrix taiwanica, misidentified as others on the list until 2023, is found around Taiwan and southern China.{{cite web |last1=PFLUGHOEFT |first1=ASPEN |title=New species was hiding in plain sight and being raised on Taiwanese farms, experts say |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article274244010.html |website=miamiherald.com |publisher=Miami Herald |access-date=13 April 2023}}
Meretrix meretrix, originally described by Linnaeus in the Indian Ocean, is found around Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

There is one report in 2022 of M. lusoria appearing in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo). The identification was confirmed by mtDNA phylogeny matching to Japanese M. lusoria. Interestingly, what appeared morphologically to be M. meretrix and M. lyrata at the same site gave very similar mtDNA results.{{cite journal |last1= Idris |first1= Mohd Hanafi |last2= Abu Hena |first2= Mustafa Kamal |last3= Hamli |first3= Hadi |last4= Rajaee |first4= Amy |last5= Al-Asif |first5= Abdulla- |title= The molecular approach reveals the relationship among Venus clams (Meretrix spp.) community in Malaysia|journal= Biotropia |date=16 December 2022|volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=213–224|doi=10.11598/btb.2022.29.3.1583 |doi-access=free }}