Help ID This Thing?

[Instant Tang]

I posted this message in another forum...but thought maybe this is really where it should go:

A friend of mine recently found a strange creature living on a piece of live rock...I don't know what it is and his wife is worried! LOL.

Can someone identify the strange valved/shelled creature just below the bubble coral in this photo?

It's shadow sensitive, when he gets close it closes up.

 

[Hunter21]

kinda reminds me of a clam, but don't take my word for it!!!!

Erin

 

[LeslieH]

Looks like a thorny oyster, genus Spondylus. These are filter feeders.

 

[jaymz101]

could also be a scallop with the blue dots (eyes) around the edge of the mantle. But the shell is heavily overgrown so I cant tell.

 

[Instant Tang]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7550617#post7550617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jaymz101
could also be a scallop with the blue dots (eyes) around the edge of the mantle. But the shell is heavily overgrown so I cant tell.

Here's a bigger cropped picture of the same photo, does it help ID it? I do see some blue/white dots around it's mantle edge...

 

[Sk8r]

Whatever it is, and clam of some variety is the likeliest, feed it phytoplankton, either Phytofeast or DT's, and it will suck it in.

 

[jaymz101]

I asked around the ffice and the general concensus is scallop. Dont know what kind though as we deal with the Bay Scallop (Argopectan irridians) mostly. We couldnt think of anything else that would have those "eyes" besides a giant clam.....and its not one of those. You can also see the ruffled shell edges in the closeup pic.

However, I had never seen one overgrown as they are motile (to an extent). They do have a settle out phase and it looks like this one got stuck. Others at our scallop farm have seen some overgrown by vermetid worms and barnacles so this isnt too far of a stretch.

feed like Sk8r said and it should be fine.

 

[LeslieH]

There are a number of other bivalves which have eyes including Spondylus. Do a google search for Spondylus varians - the most commonly photographed Indo Pacific thorny oyster or just go to these 2 websites. The second is an image that shows the eyes very well.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bivalvia.htm
http://www.calacademy.org/research/izg/CoralReefOrganisms/Bivalves/Spondylus_varians.htm