Clam Emergency!!!

[downhillbiker]

i came home from work today and my new clam was sitting next to the rock that it had attached to. lying on its side. there was a big chunk of byssal tissue and maybe some foot attached to the rock it was previously on.

the clam was open like normal when i got home, just on its side and in the sand. color and tissue looks normal in the mantle. is this clam going to die? will it be ok? has this happened before?

PLEASE HELP!!! ANY INFO WILL BE APPRECIATED! I just am so nervous, sad, and queezy.

:hmm2: :thumbdown

here's the byssal tissue, it is hard and stringy:

here is the clam. it is missing a good chunk of flesh that was in the bottom before:

 

[auntdeb]

I'm afraid your clam is on its way out. We've had a couple of clams do the exact same thing. Basically it's lost its foot and it won't grow a new one.

With ours, after this happened, it would still look good for several days but would slowly look worse and worse. We finally made the decision to pull them out before it got nasty and contaminated the tank. Very sad days!

Maybe some others will have more insightful information, but that has been our experience.

 

[nancymccall]

I thought they can/ could let go of there foot incases where they were not happy with there location. A friend of mine had here clam do the same thing and after moving it to higher light recovered fine and stuck back down to rocks. Nancy

 

[nancymccall]

you also might ask the people in the clam fourm, i'm sure some one there would know for sure.

 

[leeweber85]

hmm.. yea try the clam forum. In the meantime, I wouldn't mess with it any more, just let it be so it doesn't stress it out anymore.

 

[downhillbiker]

well. a good sign is that last night when i went to bed i decided to move some rocks around to prop it up to keep the clam upright and it was reattached. it was probably only 1 thread, but i guess that is a good sign.

 

[will16]

Well, I've had that happen to a few clams and left a bit of the foot on the rock but not as much as what is in your picture. My clams eventually reattached and did fine.

Good luck.

 

[mbbuna]

it looks like its just the threads, leave the clam in one spot and dont handle it

 

[ReefTECK]

Yeah I was going to say and amend anyone saying that clam is on the way out. Looks like the bysus organ is still attached inside of the clam there with that ventral shot you provided.

I think he just left his threads behind.

ltz,
andy

 

[seapug]

yeah, it'll either make it and be fine or be dead in a day or two. As mbbuna said, just put it back and avoid handling it.

 

[ReefTECK]

I don't know if I would put it back directly where you had it, perhaps that is what made him want to detach in the first place. But then again you don't want him to attach in a bad spot and then have to cut his threads to move him again in another week or two.

IDK. just a thought.

 

[downhillbiker]

well like i said it is already attached to the same rock again. i think the problem was is it had no support and was newly attached. i put some support rocks in around for a while. the rock is small so i can move it around if i need to instead of cutting threads to move the clam.