Help clam mantle nipped or ripped?

[bhujang]

Hello

I have had a deresa clam now for 3 months it has grown 1.5 inches and is doing well. This evening I noticed that the mantle is broken, looks like a rip or nip. Will it repair? Or am I in big trouble here? What could have done it? The only new thing into the tank was 3 rather largish Emerald crabs, could they have done it carelessly? If not would cleaner shrimps do it? As I have seen them hassle the clam before but not damage it.! Any Ideas? Here is a picture...

The whole clam...

Its has only been 1 day max as yesterday the clam was fine!

 

[Reefcherie]

Hello bhujang,

It may be helpful to list for us ALL your tank inhabitants because the most recent additions aren't the only possible culprits. Sometimes a fish that has previously been a model citizen can decide one day that a clam mantle looks tasty. My emerald crabs and cleaner shrimp have never bothered my clams, nor are they known for that behavior.

Otherwise healthy clams can often repair damage to their mantle...though with continued abuse, a clam will tend to open less and less - ultimately leading to its death.

I'm a little concerned about the quantity of substrate sitting on the clam's mantle in the picture...is something dropping it there? I would suggest that you gently blow it off. Often a clam can "cough" and clear away a small amount of substrate, but that looks like a fair amount.

Nice pictures BTW!

Cheri

 

[Julio]

looks like a fish bite.

 

[bhujang]

Hurray an answer and help at last... Yes I also think its a fish bite as well, sorry about the coral sands on the clam, its my blue cheek gobies, but they do such a good job at turning my substrate I cant find the heart to get rid of them! So far it has always got rid of it itself, that amount you saw was gone just after the pic was taken, and I used to try to dust it off manually but it was a bit stressful to the clam as it always closed up and did the job better itself. Its not been continually hassled phew and it opens up lovely so Im hoping for a quick recovery. Ok here gos! I think it a fish bite too now after talking with my LFS I have a maroon clown, well a pair really but he is fine, she is a big moody mother and even bites me! So I feel she may be the culprit as I have seen her bite of tips of my long tenticle plate coral and other corals and nip at the anemones I hope she wont do it again ! I will post more pics as she heals, she has grown 1.5 inches in a couple of months! so Im really happy about that! Apart from all the calcium I have to keep dosing ! ^_^

 

[Barry N.]

Otherwise healthy clams can often repair damage to their mantle...though with continued abuse, a clam will tend to open less and less - ultimately leading to its death.

So true Cheri!

Also I see some sand on the clams mantle. Is something throwing sand on the clam as it could clog the gills. : (

 

[bhujang]

High Barry

Sure Its from blue cheek gobies, It bothers me as well, but the clam seems to be fine with it, it removes it itself better than I can. I do wonder in the wilds, clams must get covered with sand etc say after a storm or rouch waves or even when a big fish fins by etc, so I have learnt to except it for now as catching the blue cheeks is not an option in my mature reef tank it would be a nightmare!

 

[Reefcherie]

If you actually went diving in the areas of the ocean that these clams naturally live, I think you'd find that the amount of water flow is tremendous compared to what we have in our tanks. I'm sure that helps. A good sized Derasa sure can move a lot of water when it "coughs," so if yours is able to regularly clear itself from the sand droppings of the gobies, all is well I guess.

When there is a bad storm, parts of reefs DO get destroyed and the corals and other creatures die. I've personally seen that happen off the coast of the island of Abaco in the Bahamas. A gorgeous reef that I could wade out to from the shore ceased to exist after a bad storm about 4 years ago. It was entirely covered with sand such that you couldn't even tell a reef had been there. Tremendous coral heads simply disappeared. If there had been tridacnid clams (they didn't live there), they'd have been gone too. I can only hope that some of the coral frags got washed into protected areas and a new reef is busy forming.

Cheri

 

[bhujang]

Wow that is so sad! Nature can be so destructive as well as creative!