On the weekend, a group of middle school students “enjoying the outdoors” along a river in northern Maryland made a startling find. The children were exploring Winters Run, a 14-mile river in Harford County, when they discovered a pearl inside a clam, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Corbicula clams, such as the one found in Winters Run, belong to an invasive species that is not native to Maryland but has been discovered there previously. According to the Maryland State Archives, the mollusks are also known as Asian clams or golden clams and can live “on the muddy or sandy bottoms” of lakes and streams.
“Like other clams, it has the ability to create pearls,” the department of natural resources noted in social media posts praising the children’s “amazing discoveries.” Clearly, this is an extremely rare occurrence, thus these children are fortunate!
COOL FIND: While enjoying the outdoors at Winters Run in Harford County, two sixth- and seventh-graders discovered a pearl in a freshwater clam (Corbicula)! Corbicula is a non-native mollusk that is capable of producing pearls. This is quite uncommon, so these children were lucky! pic.twitter.com/HOv7SGEq0Y
— Maryland Department of Natural Resources (@MarylandDNR) August 28, 2022
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the first Corbicula clams were discovered in the United States in the 1930s. At the time, the clams were discovered in Washington state, and the government claimed they may have been imported. Today, their presence is “extensive” across the nation, and they can reproduce in such enormous numbers as to choke pipelines and streams. Clams often have a yellow-green shell with white spots on the exterior and a purple shell on the interior.
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