Gigas with a third shell

[michika]

I just thought this might be of some interest to some people.

For the record this gigas clam passed away in a non-related incident in November 2008. At the time the clam was about 8-10" in length, and I'd had it for about 3.5 years at the time.

As of 2006 this clam was too big to close anymore, and at best it could only retract its mantle. There were never any preditors to worry about.

In late 2008, September, or maybe August, I noticed that my clam was "gaping" and keeping its mantled tucked in for long periods of time.

Initially the clam just looked a slight big drawn in

.

Then one day it was sunk in on one side

Then this

Anyways when the clam passed away the November Crash #2 (Oct/November 2008 was not a good time for my tank), I took the opportunity to examin it.

The clam had separated away from the shell, about 25% of the flesh was still making contact with the original shell at the bottom. The remaining 75% was not connected in any way. The surprising part was that on that side my clam was growing a third shell! At the time of its death the third shell had a distinct half moon shape, and was connected to the clam flesh. It definitely did not pull away from the original shell, as the orignall shell was still quite smooth and white.

I unfortunately do not have any photos of the third shell, right now however I'm hoping to find the shells once I finish an ongoing renovation.

I posted this on over at Clams Direct's Forums. However nobody there had ever heard of anything like this. I though I would post it, and hopefully those last couple of photos, to see if anyone can learn from it.

 

[a4twenty]

sorry for your loss


very interesting, look forward to a pic of the new shell if / when you find it

 

[michika]

It sucks to loose anything, but this was my second oldest clam in my posession, it hurt.

I did find it, and we'll be waiting a little bit for photos. The clam and an equally large derasa got put outside in a bucket to keep it from stinking up our basement in the big crash. I'll see if I can shoot a photo through the ice.

 

[jdmcivicek9]

actually the same thing is happening to my gigas as we post on this thread!!!my clam is about 10 or so inchs long and on one side its mantle is fine and protrudes past its regular shell but on the other side it actually has sunk in and looks like its building a new inner shell or somtheing...a while ago i posted pictures of it thinking it was a goner but decided to keep it in the tank until i was absolutely sure it was toast and to my surprise its still alive!!this is like 4 months since i initially thought it was going to die!!!

this was when i first discovered it sunk in...

this picture was taken a few weeks ago...definitely looks alot healthier

 

[michika]

Its cool to see that I'm not the only one who has experienced this!

 

[jdmcivicek9]

yeah im not sure whats caused it in the first place but im just glad to see its making a recovery!!!ive researched it but havent really come up with anything...