🐚 Blood Clam (Tegillarca granosa) – The Red-Hearted Bivalve of Coastal Wetlands
The Blood Clam, scientifically known as Tegillarca granosa, is a brackish water bivalve mollusk famous for its reddish hemoglobin-rich blood, which gives it its name. It is widely harvested across Southeast Asia and parts of India, including the Sundarbans’ estuarine fringe zones, where it thrives in soft, muddy bottoms of tidal flats and mangrove creeks.
🏷 Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Arcida
Family: Arcidae
Genus:Tegillarca
Species:T. granosa
🩸 The “blood” refers to its hemoglobin-rich red body fluid, rare among mollusks, allowing survival in low-oxygen muddy environments.
🔬 Morphology & Physical Characteristics
Shell Size: Medium-sized, typically 4–6 cm across.
Shell Shape:
Thick, oval-shaped, with radial ribs and concentric ridges.
Resembles a cockle or ark clam.
Coloration:
Outer shell: Whitish to brownish, often stained with mud or algae.
Inner body: Bright red flesh, due to presence of hemoglobin in tissues.
🌍 Habitat & Distribution
The Blood Clam is native to coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific, thriving in:
🌎 Key Habitats: ✅ Sundarbans estuarine flats – Found in soft mud near brackish tidal creeks. ✅ India (coastal West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu). ✅ Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam – also cultured extensively.
📌 Preferred Conditions:
Muddy, sandy-mud, or silty bottom.
Intertidal to shallow subtidal zones, 1–10 m deep.
Moderate salinity and low dissolved oxygen – ideal for their hemoglobin advantage.
🧬 Feeding & Life Cycle
🍃 Filter Feeder:
Extracts phytoplankton, organic detritus, and suspended particles from water.
Contributes to water purification and sediment turnover.
🔁 Reproduction & Growth:
Reaches maturity within 6–9 months.
Spawns in warmer months, releasing eggs and sperm into water.
Planktonic larvae settle into mudflats and grow rapidly in favorable conditions.
🌿 Ecological Role in the Sundarbans
📌 Ecosystem Services: 1️⃣ Bioturbator – Their burrowing helps aerate sediments and improve nutrient cycling. 2️⃣ Water Filter – Contributes to cleaning the estuarine water column. 3️⃣ Prey for fish, birds, and crustaceans – Supports food webs. 4️⃣ Indicator of water quality – Can accumulate pollutants and pathogens, signaling ecological health.
💰 Economic & Culinary Importance
🍽️ Delicacy in Southeast Asia – Especially in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Often steamed, grilled, or served raw, though requires care due to health risks. 💰 Collected by hand or small tools in Sundarbans and coastal Bengal by local fishers. 🧪 Studied for environmental monitoring, due to ability to bioaccumulate heavy metals.
⚠️ In India, it’s less popular for consumption but known among coastal fishing communities for limited local trade and traditional use.
⚠️ Health Risks
🚨 Can carry Hepatitis A, E, and other pathogens if eaten raw or undercooked. 🚨 Bans exist in some countries for raw blood clam exports.
✅ Conservation & Sustainable Use
✔ Encourage responsible harvesting – Avoid over-collection during spawning. ✔ Improve post-harvest handling – Reduce contamination. ✔ Preserve mudflat habitats through mangrove conservation. ✔ Community awareness about safe preparation and ecological importance.
🚨 Conservation Status
📌 IUCN Red List:Not Evaluated Individually 📌 Indian Wildlife Protection Act: Not listed 📌 Protected indirectly via mangrove and estuarine habitat preservation.
The Blood Clam (Tegillarca granosa) is a mud-dwelling marvel with its vivid red blood, sediment-burrowing habits, and ecosystem support roles. Though less consumed in Bengal, its presence in the Sundarbans signals a healthy, oxygen-poor but thriving estuarine habitat. With responsible use and habitat protection, this unique bivalve will continue to be a silent hero of the mudflats. 🌊🦪🩸
🚤 Sail into the Heart of Nature with Our Exclusive Sundarban Tour Package! Glide through tranquil waters and watch nature come alive in India’s unique delta ecosystem.
🎨 A Sundarban Tour paints its palette with mangrove greens, river blues, and predator golds
