id this.... clam?

[dpstrand]

I found something at the top of my fuge this morning. It looks like a clam or mollusk of some sort. Can anyone id it? And should I go ahead and leave it in there? It is about 3 inches long.

 

[pagojoe]

It's a clam alright, and looks like it may be an Ark Clam, although I'd be nearly blind guessing to try to give you a species name. There are several Barbatia species that look similar. It shouldn't hurt anything in the aquarium, though.

Cheers,


Don

 

[jspine01]

Looks like an Abalone to me?

 

[pagojoe]

The refraction is trickin' ya, jspine. Makes it look like it's only half a bivalve. If it were really an abalone, it would have to be a sinistral one. (I've never heard of a left-handed abalone, although they might exist.) Anyway, it's not an abalone. The hairy-looking things around the edge of the abalone are part of the animal, the hairy ones on the clam are part of the periostracum.

Cheers,


Don

 

[jspine01]

Ok, I think I see what you mean.

 

[dpstrand]

Yeah it definately has both halves of a clam shell. I can take another pic if anyone is really interested. Mainly I just wanted to make sure this guy is safe in my fuge.