Updated on MFS - Strange But True - Creatures / animals 15.
The Geoduck.
The geoduck (pronounced /ˈɡuː.iːdʌk/ "gooey duck"), Panopea generosa, is a species of very large saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Hiatellidae.
The shell of this clam is large and contains small wings, about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) to over 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length, but the extremely long siphons make the clam itself very much longer than this: the "neck" or siphons alone can be 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length.
Etymology
The unusual name of the clam is derived from a Lushootseed (Nisqually) word gʷídəq meaning "dig deep", and its phonemically counterintuitive spelling is likely the result of poor transcription rather than anything having to do with ducks. Alternate spellings include gweduc, gweduck, goeduck, and goiduck. It is sometimes known as the mud duck, king clam, or when translated literally from the Chinese characters 象拔蚌, the elephant trunk clam or "penis clam".
Between 1983 and 2010, the scientific name of this clam was confused with an extinct clam, Panopea abrupta (Conrad, 1849), in the scientific literature.Read more about it on MFS,with 3 videoclips.
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