Giant clam that looks like a penis can live for more than 165 years

A giant clam that looks just like a penis can actually live for more than 165 years.

Panopea generosa, known as geoduck, are huge saltwater clams that are phallic in shape live in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of North America.

The reason they look like a penis is because they have very long necks called siphons, reports Live Science, but they're considered a culinary delicacy.

Geoducks are bivalves, meaning their bodies are compressed between a shell that consists of two hinged parts and they have a foot which can act as an anchor.

They eat by sucking in seawater, filter it for plankton and nutrients and then squirt out the excess through its siphon.

Panopea generosa, known as geoduck, can live for more than 165 years and have a rather phallic shape / The Evergreen State College, CC BY 4.0

In terms of their size, the shell of a geoduck measures between six and eight inches in length but its siphon can grow more than three feet long.

Geoducks usually weigh around two-and-a-half pounds but can reach up to nine.

Adult geoducks have separate sexes and reach sexual maturity around the age of three.

Males can reproduce for more than a staggering 100 years and females have large ovaries that can contain millions and millions of eggs, with around one-to-two million eggs every spawn.

Geoducks can be eaten either cooked or served raw in sushi or sashimi.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.