Clams At The Beach

[rsw686]

At Virginia Beach when they waves crash in they have these clams that will bury themselves into the sand as the water exposes them. They are 1/2" to an inch long. Anybody know what type of clams these are?

 

[greenbean36191]

Probably Donax. They're not really appropriate for reef tanks.

 

[rsw686]

Thanks. Yeah I was more curious about what clam it was. I had thought about taking some, but figured it wouldn't be a good idea to stick them in my tank.

 

[KUDA]

I thought they were called coquinas, or are those the same as donax?

 

[greenbean36191]

Coquina or butterfly shells are common names. Donax is the scientific name.

 

[Aquarist007]

why are they not suitable for reef tanks

 

[LeslieH]

Because they live in the surf zone and most tanks don't have one. And of course there's that little problem of temperature difference....

 

[ahullsb]

Our tanks are usually between 76-82 degrees. I'm a west coaster so it's out of the question here, but I'd imagine the water near you is cooler than we keep our tanks. What is it usually? Low 70's?

 

[Moonstream]

also, they are likely illegal to take from the wild.

 

[greenbean36191]

Well it was 90 here the other day and we've got them. Like most littoral species, they're probably pretty tolerant to high temps at least on the short term. Long term, I'm not sure how they would cope. The bigger worry to me is the whole living and feeding in the surf zone issue.

 

[Aquarist007]

I seen tanks with that kind of turbulent action at the bottom--I suppose they could keep them long term in a situation like that.