Is this just a mass of Byssus threads? Or something worse?

[Drachs]

Before bed last night my girlfriend was looking at one of our clams and she noticed this large mass sticking out from underneath it. I stuck my hand in the tank and I turned it over and the mass fell out! I thought the clam was dead, but it responded to my touch by closing, and I saw it’s little foot poking out of it's byssus opening then jump back in.

Here's a picture of the mass hanging outside the clam. It hasn't got pulled off or a rock or anything but I did move it from one place in the sand to another earlier in the evening, but I didn't take any force or anything. It was just sitting in the sand. As you can see it's got a few small chunks of rock stuck to the threads.

The clam isn't acting unusual, and the mass is still attached to the clam by some byssus threads. Also, please tell me what I should do about this mass... Leave it or cut it free.

 

[ezcompany]

i would leave it, it will detach naturally on its own.

 

[Drachs]

Thankyou Ez, so you think it's just a mass of byssus? Or is it the whole gland?

 

[quicksilverq]

ITs the clams foot just leave it B. I agree with ezcompany.

 

[Drachs]

You think it's the foot? Does this mean the clam is probably a gonner? Or is this ok?

 

[ezcompany]

its part of the foot, but it is detachable. it should grow a new one if its healthy.

 

[Drachs]

Any reason that it would want to drop it? I did recently change it to a new tank. Does dropping the foot mean it's not happy in its new environment?

 

[skinz78]

The clam is probably dropping it to make room for new threads. can you post a top down pic?

 

[Drachs]

Hey, thanks for the help Skinz! I still remember the first time I saw these things, I was hooked, and that was before I knew how colorful they could be!

He looks great from on top, but I didn't take any pictures from that perspective yesterday, I'll take one tomorrow and post.

 

[Drachs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12486209#post12486209 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skinz78
The clam is probably dropping it to make room for new threads. can you post a top down pic?

Here's a picture of the top of the clam taken from about a 45 degree angle. There's a snail on the lower right hand corner of the clam eating algae off it's shell and it's disrupting it's mantle a bit.

 

[quicksilverq]

nice looking clam

 

[Drachs]

Thanks, he looks healthy to me, but I'm new to clams

 

[Meisen]

Yep, it looks like just a mass of byssus. Clams dont drop their feet as far as I know, they do disconnect from their byssus when they want to move ie something is irritating them. As clams get larger they tend not to attach as much but thats just my observation with my clams. I do have a fairly large Maxima that always attaches but otherwise my other clams dont now that they are 4"+