''Tridacna squamosa'', known commonly as the fluted giant clam and scaly clam, is a species of
bivalve
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Cardiidae
A cockle is an edible marine bivalve mollusc. Although many small edible bivalves are loosely called cockles, true cockles are species in the family Cardiidae.>MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Cardiidae Lamarck, 1809. Accessed through: W ...
.
[MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Tridacna squamosa Lamarck, 1819. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207674 on 2022-10-13]
It is one of a number of large clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...
species native to the shallow coral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
s of the South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
and Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
s. It is distinguished by the large, leaf-like fluted edges on its shell called 'scutes' and a byssal opening that is small compared to those of other members of the subfamily Tridacninae
Tridacnidae, common name the giant clams, is a taxonomic subfamily of very large saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae, the cockles.
Description
This subfamily contains the largest living bivalve species, including ...
. Normal coloration of the mantle ranges from browns and purples to greens and yellows arranged in elongated linear or spot-like patterns. ''Tridacna squamosa'' grows to across.
Sessile in adulthood, the clam's mantle tissues act as a habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
for the symbiotic
Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...
single-celled dinoflagellate
The Dinoflagellates (), also called Dinophytes, are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered protists. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine plankton, but they are also commo ...
algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
( zooxanthellae) from which it gets a major portion of its nutrition. By day, the clam spreads out its mantle tissue so that the algae receive the sunlight
Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...
they need to photosynthesize.
Distribution
The native range spans from South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
to the Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, and to the Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The territory consists of 29 c ...
.
In captivity
''Tridacna squamosa'' is sometimes kept in aquaria, where it requires moderate care. This species is a relatively hardy member of the Tridacnidae.
A moderate amount of light is required by this species because it relies on zooxanthellae for part of its nutrition. These dinoflagellates use the mantle as a habitat. However, it is not nearly as dependent on this photosynthesis as other tridacnids such as ''Tridacna crocea'' or ''T. maxima'', and it also consumes phytoplankton
Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...
to complete its diet.
''Tridacna squamosa'' is a peaceful resident and does not harm other organisms, in the wild or otherwise. Despite its ability to shut completely, anemones, triggerfish, and puffers may be predators in a domestic environment. It is also recommended not to be kept with anemones as the anemone may move close to the clam and sting or eat it. Clams should be inspected for Pyramidellidae
Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs. The great majority of species of pyrams are micromol ...
snails and quarantined, if possible, before being added to aquaria.
In aquaria, it should be kept lower in the display. Although some specimens prefer lying in the substrate they will occasionally attach their byssal threads to rocks above the substrate.
All clams require good to excellent water quality but may help reduce nitrate levels in a system. Clams are noted to consume free nitrates to a degree.
Conservation status
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
lists this clam as least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
[ The species is listed in Appendix II of the ]Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Convention may refer to:
* Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct
** Treaty, an agreement in international law
** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition
* Convention (meeting ...
(CITES) meaning international trade (including in parts and derivatives) is regulated.
References
* Rosewater, J. (1965). The family Tridacnidae in the Indo-Pacific. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 1(6): 347-408
* Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector's Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.
* Rosenberg, G. 1992. Encyclopedia of Seashells. Dorset: New York. 224 pp
* Liu, J.Y. uiyu(ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp
* Branch, G.M., Griffiths, C.L., Branch, M.L. & Beckley, L.E. (2010). Two Oceans. A guide to the marine life of southern Africa. Revised edition. David Philip: Cape Town.
External links
Tridacnid clams on WetWebMedia.com
*
Lamarck (J.-B. M.) de. (1819). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome 6(1): vi + 343 pp. Paris: published by the author
Poorten, J.J. ter, 2009. The Cardiidae of the Panglao Marine Biodiversity Project 2004 and the Panglao 2005 Deep-Sea Cruise with descriptions of four new species (Bivalvia). Vita Malacologica 8: 9-96
http://www.conchology.be/en/shelltopics/visaya-net/date.php?year=2005
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1057462
squamosa
Molluscs of the Indian Ocean
Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean
Bivalves described in 1819
Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck