clam shell seperated?????

[cap11885]

so my clam spent the better part of 8 months resting on my rock work. my urchin knocked him off and now the two parts of his shell move independently. its like the hinge broke. he is currently on my sand bed being supported by some nearby rocks so it wont completly fall over. it opens up still and apears healthy except for the shell it will always sit kinda lopsided leaning off to one side with his shell not lined up properly. still open just ackward.... any idead whats going on or what i can do? can a clam heal this?

 

[ShaunMonahan]

Many years ago, I had a favia that was pushed off of my rock work by a xxlg turbo snail. The favia fell onto my derasa clam and it broke the hinge mechanism. the clam was fine but it did not sit up on it's own.

I came up with a fix: I super glued 2 pieces/straps of rubber bands to both sides of the shell going underneath it. This created a new artificial "hinge" for the derasa and the clam actually repaired its self- somewhat.

Hope this helps.

 

[Fretfreak13]

You made a cast for your clam. Ridicules, but genius. Good for you!

 

[moliken]

best of luck.

 

[wakesetter]

IME this will eventually lead to death. They generally seem to do ok for a few months with a separated hinge, but eventually start to withdraw and die. I have seed probably 8-10 clams do this in the last 15 years and none have lived more than a few months after the hinges separate

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

Shaun is the clam-whisperer

 

[moliken]

clams have eyes, but no EARS.
:lolspin:

 

[-TS-Vash]

Broken Hinge

A break in the brown protein material that joins the two shells happens rarely. Re-align the shells and place a rubber band loosely around them to hold the hinge position. Make sure the rubber band isn't too tight - the shells need to be able to part far enough for the mantle to extend and receive light. In about two weeks, the clam will secrete a new hinge.

 

[tommer725]

What's this I keep hearing about clams have eyes? Where?

 

[ShaunMonahan]

This is correct:

Giant clams (Tridacna spp.) have several hundred small pinhole-type eyes on the exposed mantle. They respond by withdrawing the mantle to movements of dark objects, even if these cast no shadow on the animal as a whole. (Read the rest here)

 

[sleepydoc]

This is correct:

Giant clams (Tridacna spp.) have several hundred small pinhole-type eyes on the exposed mantle. They respond by withdrawing the mantle to movements of dark objects, even if these cast no shadow on the animal as a whole. (Read the rest here)

Very cool! I figured they did, based on how mine responds to shadows, but interesting to read more detail.