death by bristle worm?

[redwinger8]

I awoke this morning to find my single purple maxima clam pulled over on it's side with 5-6 red bristle works inside/outside of it. For the past six months there has been zero sign of trouble - was this an orchestrated attack or has it been going on I wonder? What can I do in the future and should I eradicate the worms? I think it's too late for the clam, he looks pretty bad

 

[a4twenty]

they were probably doing their job, cleaning up the dead clam. without a lot more info and even a few pics it is very hard to guess what killed the clam.

 

[quicksilverq]

Has to be one huge worm Never actually seen one kill something.

 

[Charlie Davidson]

Clam was dead. Worms were just cleaning up mess.

 

[redwinger8]

Well now that I'm home from work I think it's safe to say that Mr. Clam has bought the farm. The clams' mantle has receded into the shell and it's color has went away. My question now is should I remove it or let everyone do there "thing" ??

Thanks btw for the help everyone, this is such a great resource!

 

[a4twenty]

sorry to hear but remove him, to prevent fouling the water.

 

[quicksilverq]

yah u should remove him unless you have one heck of a clean up crew that needs to be feed and a good skimmer.