page_title: Geoduck
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Geoduck / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: English: Mirugai (Jumbo Clam) for sale at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan
context_page_description: The Pacific geoduck is a species of very large, edible saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae. The common name is derived from a Lushootseed word gʷídəq.
  The geoduck is native to the coastal waters of western Canada and the northwest United States. The shell of the clam ranges from 15 cm to over 20 cm in length, but the extremely long siphons make the clam itself much longer than this: the "neck" or siphons alone can be 1 m in length. The geoduck is the largest burrowing clam in the world. It is also one of the longest-living animals of any type, with a typical lifespan of 140 years; the oldest has been recorded at 168 years old.
context_section_description: The name geoduck is derived from a Lushootseed (Nisqually) word gʷídəq either a word composed of a first element of unknown meaning and əq meaning "genitals" (referring to the shape of the clam), or a phrase meaning "dig deep", or perhaps both, as a double entendre. It is sometimes known as a mud duck, king clam or, when translated literally from Chinese, an elephant-trunk clam. A group of geoducks is called a "bag".
  Between 1983 and 2010, the scientific name of this clam was confused with that of an extinct clam, Panopea abrupta (Conrad, 1849), in scientific literature.
caption: Geoduck for sale at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo
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