Arthur E. Bogan, Ph.D.

I received the email where you are asking about the eating of freshwater bivalves.

Please find listed below my observations from two trips to China and the freshwater mollusks I have seen in the markets or have eaten.

I have seen Corbicula [Corbiculidae]for sale in the markets in Shanghai, China, and in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. In Jiangxi Proince they are sold in markets and venders in the market also sell them in soups or what appears to be steamed with spices. They taste pretty good. I have seen the local fisherman collecting Corbicula from Lake Tai Hu just west of Shanghai, to sell to Japan and Korea. They are bagged in what appears to be 50 pound bags.
I have eaten freshwater gastropods in Shanghai, China both the large mystry snails, Cipangopaludina and the so called mud snails, Bellamya both in the family Viviparidae. The mystry snails were served in a wine sauce and were quite good the mud snails were not so good.
The Unionidae I have seen in the markets in Shanghai and Nanchang are Hyriopsis cumingii, Cristaria plicata and Anodonta woodiana. I was told that Lamprotula leai is also sold but was not seen in the markets while I was there. I have seen people buying these animals for food but have never eaten them and my friends have told me they do not taste good but still no recipes on how to fix them.
I hope these few tidbits are of use. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me. Best wishes for the holidays.
Art
--
Arthur E. Bogan, Ph.D.
Curator of Aquatic Invertebrates
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences
Research Laboratory
4301 Reedy Creek Road
Raleigh, NC 27607

Tel. (919) 733-7450 ext 753
Fax (919) 715-2294
email arthur.bogan@ncmail.net

Yes

• Corbiculidae
• Viviparidae(Mystery snails )
  • Bellamya
  • Cipangopaludina (mud snails)
• Unionidae
  • Hyriopsis cumingii
  • Cristaria plicata
  • Anodonta woodiana
  • Lamprotula leai

Jay Cordeiro

I wouldn't eat a unio if you paid me, however, just off the top of my head, here are a few taxa. If you need common names or geographical information, I can dig that up with a little effort. Please keep me posted on your progress. This is just a quick assemblage. I'm sure I could come up with more if I really put some serious effort into it.

Edible Mollusks

BIVALVIA

• ARCTICIDAE
  • Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767)
• ARDIIDAE
  • Clinocardium nuttallii (Conrad, 1837)
• HIATELLIDAE
  • Cyrtodaria siliqua (Spengler, 1799)
  • Panopea abrupta (Conrad, 1849)
  • Panopea generosa (Gould, 1850)
• MACTRIDAE
  • Spisula solidissima (Dillwyn, 1817)
• MESODESMATIDAE
  • Paphies australis (Gmelin, 1791)
• MYIDAE
  • Mya arenaria Linnaeus, 1758
• MYTILIDAE
• Mytilus californianus Conrad, 1837
• Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758
• Mytilus trossulus Gould, 1850
• Perna canaliculus
• Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758)
• OSTREIDAE
• Crassostrea ariakensis (Fujita, 1913)
• Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793)
• Crassostrea sikamea (Amemiya, 1928)
• Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791)
• Saccostrea glomerata (Gould, 1850)
• Ostrea edulis Linnaeus, 1758
• Ostrea lurida Carpenter, 1864
• PECTINIDAE
  • Argopecten irradians irradians (Lamarck, 1819)
• Clamys hastate (Sowerby, 1842)
• Chlamys rabida (Hinds, 1845)
• Mizuhopecten yessoensis (Jay, 1856)
• Placopecten magellanicus (Gmelin, 1791)
• PHARIDAE
  • Ensis directus Conrad, 1843
• VENERIDAE
  • Chione stuchburyi (Wood, 1828)
  • Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Paphia undulata (von Born, 1778)
  • Venerupis phillippinarium (Adams and Reeve, 1850)

GASTROPODA

• ACHATINIDAE
  • Achatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822)
• AMPULLARIIDAE
  • Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819)
• ORBICULIDAE
  • Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774)
• HALIOTIDAE
  • Haliotis rufescens Swainson, 1822
• LITTORINIDAE
  • Littorina littorea (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Littorina saxatilis (Olivi, 1792)
• STROMBIDAE
  • Strombus gigas Linnaeus, 1758

CEPHALOPODA

• LOLIGINIDAE Loligo opalescens Berry, 1911
• OCTOPODIDAE Octopus rubescens Berry 1953
  

"Although I stay clear of unionids as a delicacy, there is history of consumption by native peoples around the world as evidenced by mussel middens in archaeological sites.

Also in southeast Asia, some of the unios are consumed, Anodontia woodiana, Cyprogenia abertii, Hyriopsis cumingii. I hear Hyriidae are consumed in some areas.

Also, the shells produced as waste in the freshwater pearl industry are ground up for fertilizer and animal feed."

Jay Cordeiro
Research Zoologist
Nature Serve
11 Avenue de Lafayette, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
617-472-0270

Dees, L.T. 1970. Edible land snails in the United States. United States
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resource
Publication, 91: 1-8.

• Achatina fulica Bowdich
  - introduced into Hawaii as a food source by Japanese, lots of cash spent to control agricultural pest, 3 spms. brought to north Miami, FL, by a young boy from Hawaii where infestation has occurred (since eradicated, J.C.)
  
• Cepaea hortensi (Muller, 1774: white-lip gardensnail
  - introduced into New England in colonial times but not established (wrong!, currently established, J.C. pers. obs.)
• Cepaea nemoralis (Linnaeus, 1758): grovesnail
• Helix aperta Born, 1778: green gardensnail
  - marginal agricultural pest
• Helix aspersa Muller, 1774: brown gardensnail
  - most widespread land snail worldwide (pers. obs., J.C.)
• Helix pomatia Linnaeus, 1758: escargot
  - introduced at Jackson, MS
• Otala lactea (Muller, 1774): milk snail
  - locally introduced into CA, TX, MS, FL, GA, Sullivans Island (SC)
• Otala vermiculata (Muller)= Eobania vermiculata (Muller, 1774):
  chocolate-band snail
  - introduced into New Orleansin 1918 in Jackson Square
• Theba pisana (Muller, 1774): white gardensnail
  - introduced into CA but eradicated (?), pest
  

Geoff Macaulay

I checked my litterature but have no specific list of species eaten. However besides the well known European species Helix pomum (and similar Eastern European species), Helix aspersa, Cepaea nemoralis, I was able to find the following listed

Achatina species
Strophocheilus species in Brasil

locally I think also
Velesunio ambiguus and
Velesunio wilsoni in Northern Australia and probably other spp.

I also have a specimen of Placostylus souvilllei from New Caledonia which I
was told was eaten by the residents.

I have also seen the large Corbiculiids, Batissa spp from mangrove swamps in
Indonesia and melanesia on sale for consumption in the markets

As far as recipes I have a book by Capt Alex Roth Jr of Guam called
Molluscan Melange which has hundreds of recipes including a few on snails. I can send you a copy of the snail ones by snail mai l (no pun intended) if you like. Book p[ublished by Aljemasu Enterprises PO Box 7867 Tamuning Guam 96911 (this is his old address - I am not sure if he is still around or OK as havent been in contact 2 years).

Hope this helps. I will check out or site when I have time. Let me know if you need the recipes
Regards
Geoff

Alex Roths Snail Recipes are:
Escargot Bourguignonne
Snails Baked in Mussel Shells
Snails Provencale
Snails a la Suisse
Snails Stuffed with Anchovies
Escargot des Ducs D'Anjou
Escargots Beaujolaise
Fricasse d'escargots
Escargot Forestiere
Snails Piedmont
Fried Snails

Geoff

• European species Helix pomum
• (and similar Eastern European species),
  • Helix aspersa,
  • Cepaea nemoralis,

I was able to find the following listed

• Achatina species
  • Strophocheilus species in Brasil

locally I think also

• Velesunio ambiguus and
• Velesunio wilsoni in Northern Australia and probably other spp.

I also have a specimen of

• Placostylus souvilllei from New Caledonia which I
  was told was eaten by the residents.

I have also seen the large

• Corbiculiids, Batissa spp from mangrove swamps in
  Indonesia and Melanesia on sale for consumption in the markets

Frederick W. Schueler

... that's a frequently asked question, but here in Ontario we always say that if you've got a recipe that calls for mud-flavoured latex high in persistant pollutants, you can freely substitute Unionids for the latex.
I've eaten them from northern lakes when I've been collecting specimens (anything tastes good with plenty of butter and Garlic on it), but I've never heard of anyone eating them on a regular basis.

fred.
------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern Ontario Biodiversity Museum
Box 1860, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada K0G 1J0
--------------------------
Biological Checklist of the Kemptville Creek Drainage Basin
Frederick W. Schueler, Aleta Karstad, Jennifer Helene Schueler
RR#2 Bishops Mills, K0G 1T0 on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain
18TVE 446 687, 44* 52'N 75* 42'W (613)258-3107
http://www.home.istar.ca/~bckcdb
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Subject: Re: Anodonta spp. for dinner?
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 13:53:47 -0500

* certainly - and you might add that so many Unionids grow so slowly and > live so long that there's a real conservation concern with any harvesting of them.