The species is native to marine and brackish waters in the northern Pacific Ocean, its range extending from Siberia to China, Korea and Japan.

The umbo is about halfway along the hinge side of the shell and the shape of each valve is like a wide isosceles triangle with rounded corners.

The part of the shell buried in the substrate is clean, whereas the exposed portion is often colonised by other organisms which stain it a dark colour.

[2][3] The native range of Potamocorbula amurensis, "of the Amur River" is Siberia, China, Korea and Japan, between the latitudes of 53° N and 22° N. It has also become established in San Francisco Bay.

[2] Another invasive species, the European green crab, Carcinus maenas, which arrived in the San Francisco Bay in around 1990, may control P. amurensis.