UPI: ‘Shellfish gone near damaged nuke plant’ — Researcher: Likely extinct because of Fukushima nuclear crisis

Japanese researchers announced recently that a sort of shellfish called Thais clavigera disappeared in a 30-km coastal area near Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. [...] Other shellfish species, such as Cellana grata, were found in the alert zone but the amount of them declined, with high dose of radioactive materials inside their bodies, according to the researchers. [...] Toshihiro Horiguchi, a researcher from the environmental institute and the head of the team, said that it is a rare occurrence that Thais clavigera entirely disappeared from a 30-km long area, adding the extinct was probably caused by the nuclear crisis. The link between the disappearance and the catastrophic tsunami was excluded as the shell was also found in other areas that affected by the disaster, according to the team. [...]
UPI, April 1, 2013: Shellfish gone near damaged nuke plant [...] A species of shellfish has disappeared along an 18-mile stretch of coast near Japan’s devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, scientists say. [...] Other shellfish species were found in the alert zone but their numbers had declined and high levels of radioactive materials were detected in them, the researchers said. Lead researcher Toshihiro Horiguchi said the disappearance of Thais clavigera was likely a result of radiation from the damaged plant. [...]

See also: Study: Significant decrease in abundance of Fukushima birds and butterflies as radiation levels increase -NYT