Clam ??

amonchak

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#1
I bought a clam on Sunday at the meeting. Since the clam seems to be opening fine be there are several openings in the mantle. Per Jon's comments two of them are the inhalent and exhalent siphon.

My question is should they always be open and there seems to be a third opening as well.

FWIW the clam has been moving every day. I think I have it in a spot where it won't move now but.....

Any thoughts would be great.
 

dv3

Beluga
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#2
i have only noticed 2 openings in mine ...and one of those (on the bottom) is the only one that has really been open that much ...mine also moves alot ...it probably changes directions on it plug 4-5 times a day
 

amonchak

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#3
Thanks Don

Hummmm I hope all is good....

Maybe Jon will chime in too!
 

dv3

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#4
jon da man ...he is usually here earlier tho ...maybe tomorrow
 

jonthefb

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#6
clams should only have two main holes that are visible on the mantle. If you have other holes that are opening up on the mantle, something else is going on. Is there any chance that something could be picking at it? Is the clam responsive to changes in lighting?

now having said that the inhalent siphon can often be abnormally shaped or patterned.

I have seen clams in the past that have had holes open in the mantle that will eventually recover, but check your water params!
 

amonchak

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#7
Here is apicture of it. Let me know what ya think.

 

Mantid

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#9
Thats a pretty clam but I would say its not good that it has three holes like that.

dv3, thats just wrong! lol
 

amonchak

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#10
I agree in may be a bad sign. Not sure what to do but I think that I will leave it where it is for a while to try to let it settle in. Then I may try moving it up on to the rocks. Any suggestions from the clam experts would be greatly appreciated.
 

jonthefb

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#11
Yeah it is definitely gaping for sure (inhalent siphon is stretched) and the extra holes are not a good sign. Also the center part of the mantle shouldnt be translucent like it is in the pics. There really isnt anything that you can do for it other than provide it with the best water conditions that you can.
 

dv3

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#12
that clam looks alot better than it did in the store ..funny now i wish i didn't pic the one i did ..i mean for color purposes not sure about the extra hole ...could be a bonus tho;)
 

dv3

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#13
what would cause the extra hole and translucent mantle ...if its not an acclimation issue maybe you could get another for a decent price
 

jonthefb

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#14
a lot of factors can influence it, however, it is likely that things have been going downhill for awhile. Shipping stress could have been a factor. It could have had air bubbles trapped in its gills. Adam, does the clam have anything going on at the bottom where the byssal gland should be? A lot of times clams that are mishandled in packaging have their byssal gland torn from them, which will cause a very slow and gradual demise of the clam.
 

dv3

Beluga
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#15
what do you mean by anything going on at the bottom? ...mine was an empty hole but has attached itself with strings since
 

jonthefb

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#16
that is what i mean. When a calm is disturbed or handled it retracts its byssal gland into the body of the clam itself, however, once settled in, it will push the byssal gland back out and start attaching byssal threads to your rock. If Adam has had the clam for even this short amount of time, and hasnt seen any effort from the clam trying to attach to something, there is a good chance that the byssal gland has been torn from the clam (generally from handling) and the clam is, unfortunately, doomed.
 

amonchak

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#17
Well that's not what I wanted to hear. I don't recall seeing any thing at the byssal gland that was hanging out, maybe a few strings but not sure. The first night the clam partial opened and I could only see the siphons but. It was not open all the way. Then it jumped off the rock overnight so I placed it on the sand with a Rock under it. That day I notice the third hole as shown in the pics. I guess time will tell but it appears it has been like that since I brought it home.
 

amonchak

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#18
Jon do you think that checking the byssal gland is worth disturbing the clam now or not?

Sounds like it doesn't matter if it's in bad shape there is nothing I can do so maybe just leaving the clam be is the best option at this point and keeping water parms ideal.

Thanks for the help and hopefully it will recover.
 

dv3

Beluga
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#19
i would just leave it ...i tryed moving mine the next day and ripped it off the plug when it was trying to attach by accident ..you won't gain anything by looking ...lol
 

jonthefb

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#20
yeah at this point I would say leave it and see. If it starts to go downhill quickly you will know because your nassarius snails (if you have any) will swarm it. IF it does in fact die, there is a likelihood that they will consume it all overnight.
 
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