Need help with clam identification.

tikiTorch · May 21, 2023

I got the itch to redo the rock work in the tank and needed to break some rocks down that had bland shapes. One of the rocks I busted up has a clam living inside. Has anyone seen this guy before. Please Id the clam if you can and if there is any additional information about it please share. Here are some pictures in and out of tank.

tikiTorch · May 21, 2023

Self bump

tikiTorch · May 22, 2023

Bump bump

ISpeakForTheSeas · May 22, 2023

If you're sure that it's alive and a bivalve of some kind, then maybe a Pholadid bivalve (a Piddock)? I haven't done a lot of research on boring bivlaves at this point, but that'd be the closest looking I know.

Regardless, pretty much all bivalves (with some very rare, typically deep-sea exceptions) are harmless filter feeders, so if you want yours to do well, then offering it some phytoplankton would probably be a good idea. Isochrysis galbana (T-Iso) seems to be one of the most widely accepted phyto species by bivalves, and Chaetoceros spp. and Thalassiosira spp. seem to be pretty widely accepted as well; so those would be my first suggestions for phytos to try.

tikiTorch · May 22, 2023

Thank you very much. Yes I believe it to be a bivalve and has far as I can tell it’s alive being tightly closed and sometimes just open a couple of millimeters. It’s been in the tank for about 4 months since that’s when I purchased the live rock. Thanks for the response. Hope it survives since I pretty much destroyed his hideout. I’ll leave it attached to the rock and see what happens.

tikiTorch · May 24, 2023

Update… it’s still alive I noticed this money that it moved further back in the hole. Will probably move this piece of rock down to the sand bed with moderate flow.

ISpeakForTheSeas · May 24, 2023

I'd love to know how it does long term for you.

vetteguy53081 · May 24, 2023

tikiTorch said:
I got the itch to redo the rock work in the tank and needed to break some rocks down that had bland shapes. One of the rocks I busted up has a clam living inside. Has anyone seen this guy before. Please Id the clam if you can and if there is any additional information about it please share. Here are some pictures in and out of tank.

Agree on bivalve which filter feeds but never long lived and related to scallop group, not clam

tikiTorch · Jun 1, 2023

It has changed its orientation a couple of times but appears to prefer to stay in the original rock hole.

tikiTorch · Jun 1, 2023

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Jun 1, 2023

tikiTorch said:
It has changed its orientation a couple of times but appears to prefer to stay in the original rock hole.

No idea what flavor of bivalve they are but I have a couple that have been I've in my system for years... hitchhikers on a coral covered rock I bought.