Croatian Biologists Fear Largest Mediterranean Clam Near Extinction

The first signs of a pathogen targeting the clams came four years ago off the coast of Spain, the biologists say. The spread of the pathogen may have been helped by rising sea temperatures related to climate change, though they cannot be 100% certain.

“After the first evidence of the mass mortality of pen shells in their habitat (off Spain), the disease quickly spread across the Mediterranean. In Croatia, in the southern Adriatic, we first spotted what was going on in May last year,” said Luka Katusic of the Croatian Institute for Environmental Protection.

“Mortality is extremely high and it has been proven that in localities where the causative agent of the disease appears, it can cause 100% death or extinction of pinna nobilis,” Katusic said.

A year ago the aquarium in the northern Adriatic city of Pula collected some 300 seemingly healthy specimens and put them in pools hoping to save them, but fewer than 30 remain alive.