You don't have to look too
deep in the ocean for exotic beauty because the vast coral reefs already offer
some of the most spectacular underwater sights. Coral reefs, the marine
counterpart of rainforests, serve as habitat to various species ranging from
invertebrates such as mollusks to mammals such as sea turtles. And among the
species of mollusks is the largest known bivalve, the giant clam Tridacna gigas.
It is found in the Indo-West Pacific, from the intertidal zone to depths of 35
m (Bernard et al 1993) [1]. The largest known individual
measured 137 cm in length and weighed 250 kg [2].
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| Giant clam on reef, photo from www.arkive.org |
Giant clams are known
for their unique ability to ‘self-feed’. How do they do it? During an early
stage in their life cycle, they ingest dinoflagellate algae. The algae are not
digested but rather propagate in the gut. Basically, the clam is dependent on
this algae and filters sea water for it to grow at such length. Giant clam
meat, i.e., from its adductor muscle, is in high demand. Unregulated harvesting
of wild stocks posed and continues to threaten native populations throughout
the Indo-Pacific. This led to attempts to develop harvestable cultured populations
[3]. Because of this, information on the biology and ecology of giant clams were
rendered available in the scientific literature. You may visit SeaLifeBase to view this information.
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| Giant clams in spawning tank in mariculture plant, photo from www.arkive.org |
If you have other information on them, which you wish to include in our information system, please e-mail us at sealifebase@fin.ph or join us as a collaborator.
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[1] Bernard FR et al (1993) Catalogue of the Living Marine Bivalve Molluscs in China. Hong Kong University Press, 121 p.
[2] McClain, C.R., et al. 2015. Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. PeerJ 2:e715. Accessed from https://peerj.com/articles/715/
[3] Munro JL (1993) Chapter 13: Giant clams. FFA Report 92/75.
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