Clam Longevity

[Ephraim]

Quick question for you all here. How long to Tridacnid clams live for?

 

[JetCat USA]

it's been reported 8 to 200 years depending on the species

 

[mbbuna]

ive never seen anything that pinpoints the life expectancy of clams. with good care, expect to have them for a long time

 

[Ephraim]

Yeah, I've never read something that difinitively says how long they can live. But i guess it would be farily relative to size. Croceas being the shortest lived and Gigas the longest, correct?

 

[JetCat USA]

The Reef Aquarium Volume One states 8-200yrs

The Secret Of The Giant Clam by Annie Mercier and Jean-Francois Hamel has 20-100

Marine Fisheries Ecology by Simon Jennings, Michel J. Kaiser, John D. Reynolds has 100 yrs but it's only based on gigas


all of the high posted ages i've seen were based on size/weight of shells and the growth rate of said clams in the area of shell collection...........giga were the oldest ranked via that method.

 

[mbbuna]

the only two scientific references ive seen aren't very scientific. one is from the 1890 and says some may live only 8 years. and the other is from the 1950 and says some could live for hundreds.

there is no hard definitive data on life expectancy

 

[Ploppers]

So what's the longest anyone has kept one in captivity?

 

[mbbuna]

the Waikiki aquarium has it. 30+ years, ill see if i can find the thread

 

[mbbuna]

heres one

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1003112&highlight=waikiki+aquarium

 

[Ploppers]

Wow, that's impressive.

 

[Kalkbreath]

I thought that the big clam is in an open system?
Seawater from a natural reef and sunlight is hardly "captivity"
More like a "bait well"

....How ever if I'm wrong and its truly been raised under captive conditions then I tip my hat to Carlson (Whale sharks not withstanding)

The three Tridacna gigas on exhibit at the Waikïkï Aquarium were obtained from the
Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center in Koror, Palau. The largest of the clams came to
us in 1982; it was five years old and weighed 20 pounds (9 kg). It's now more than 20 years old
and probably weighs over 125 pounds (56 kg). That makes it the largest and oldest of its species
in the United States. The Waikïkï Aquarium was the first U.S. aquarium to display this huge
species. Successful animal husbandry techniques developed here could mean that this clam will
live another 50 years and reach a weight of more than 600 pounds (270 kg)!

This 350-gallon display highlights the largest species, Tridacna gigas. One specimen in this tank is over 20 years old and weighs more than 120 pounds(54 kg). These giant clams were reared at the Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center in Palau. The tank is lit by two 400 Watt, 20,000 Kelvin HQI metal halide lamps and natural sunlight. Water circulation is achieved by four airlifts and a Little Giant® 3MD pump.
This is a semi-open system receiving a slow input of seawater from a saltwater well. Other organisms in this tank, not seen in the photo, include a Tridacna derasa, Xenia sp., a breeding pair of Lysmata amboinensis (cleaner shrimp), Acanthurus pyroferus (mimic tang), and a spawning trio of Dascyllus aruanus, (humbug damselfish).

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10892201#post10892201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kalkbreath
I thought that the big clam is in an open system?
Seawater from a natural reef and sunlight is hardly "captivity"
More like a "bait well"

....How ever if I'm wrong and its truly been raised under captive conditions then I tip my hat to Carlson (Whale sharks not withstanding)

kalk, just because they use natural seawater and natural sunlight doesnt mean it not in captivity. your even contradicting some of your previous statements from the other thread a while back. by what your saying now your whole "domestication" thing is throun out because clam farms use natural light and water also.

please lets not revisit that

 

[JetCat USA]

animals in the zoo get natural fresh air and sunlight, they are still in captivity

 

[Ploppers]

LOL, ok so who has the oldest clam in their home aquarium?

 

[Stoney Mahony]

I know Redox has one over 10 years old I think, Ive had one of my maximas for 4

 

[Kalkbreath]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10892931#post10892931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JetCat USA
animals in the zoo get natural fresh air and sunlight, they are still in captivity

Yes, but imagine how much more impressive it would be to raise a Giraffe or Tiger in ARTIFICIAL AIR and GRAVITY!

I offer the GA Aquarium and their non open system reef tank displays as a prime example that not having an natural ocean reef as your sump .......does in fact make a difference in the difficulty of the task.
Explaining why Atlanta's reef displays dont look any where near the health of the Hawaiian displays is tough to do ... given that is the same aquarium curator (Bruce) and with twice the budget and equipment.

 

[Kalkbreath]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10892585#post10892585 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mbbuna
kalk, just because they use natural seawater and natural sunlight doesnt mean it not in captivity.

But some how your not conflicting your position?
Had the clam in Hawaii had babies and those babies were selected for re cultivation using criteria other then natural selection (like the farmer choosing bright colors)...then the offspring could be considered somewhat artificially selected or "domesticated".
Taking wild clams and placing them them in a live well or an artificial lagoon is merely "acclimating".

Secondly I suggest you take a look at this book coincidently titled ...The Domestication of Reef-Dwelling Clams

The Domestication of Reef-Dwelling Clams
Gerald A. Heslinga, William K. Fitt
BioScience, Vol. 37, No. 5, Aquaculture (May, 1987), pp. 332-339
doi:10.2307/1310689

 

[JetCat USA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10900255#post10900255 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kalkbreath
Yes, but imagine how much more impressive it would be to raise a Giraffe or Tiger in ARTIFICIAL AIR and GRAVITY!

granted a giraffe or tiger wouldn't like the occasional loss of gravity when the power went out that once in a blue moon I'm sure my UPS backup would kick in soon enough they wouldn't float up to any significant height as to harm themselves from the fall.

on the artificial air, I'm sure it would be of a much better quality then most in zoos are breathing, i mean after all if it's artificially mixed there would be no smog/pollution.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

He we go again!!!:celeb1:

Lets just leave it this Kalk- your definition of Domestication (as well as Heslingas 1987 title description) do not appear to be accurate to how modern scientific terminology is used. If you wanna call these clams "domesticated space turbo clams"- go ahead, but I dont think many others will agree or utilize the terms. I personally thyink using the term domesticated for these clams is grossly misusing the term, abnd misleading customers. But that is just my opinion.

However, back on topic- I have to agree with mbbuna on this one. If we are not going to consider a partially open system captivity, how in the world can you consider a completely opne system domestic? I agree, a clam in a partially open system certainly benefits from things that ones in a closed system wouldn't, but that certainly does not make it "not in captivity". Why do they need the circulation, lighting, and calcim reactor then?

In regards to the GA Aquarium reef exhibit, lets not compare apples and oranges. The two exhibits in question are quite different in many aspects, so comparing then functionally is a moot argument.

 

[Stoney Mahony]

I don't believe there are any completely closed Clam hatcheries in the world, everyone uses NSW b/c it's too frickin expensive to make high quality artificial sea water. But guess what? They are still called "Captive raised". If they aint in the ocean, they are captive.