This species was first described in 1993 by the Russian marine biologist Vasily I. Radashevsky, who placed it in the genus Polydora and gave it the specific epithet "glycymerica" because of its commensal relationship with the bivalve Glycymeris yessoensis.

The new species resembled Polydora vulgaris, a worm from the South China Sea that is also associated with bivalve molluscs, although in this instance, Pinctada margaritifera and Hyotissa hyotis are the hosts.

[3] Polydora glycymerica is found in the Sea of Japan where it lives commensally on the seabed, boring into the shells of bivalve molluscs such as Glycymeris yessoensis.

The burrows made by the worms are U-shaped and are located near the posterior end of the mollusc shell, close to the siphons.

The worm extends its anterior end from the burrow, intercepting food particles in the feeding current created by the mollusc.