New sweet clam, Maxima or Crocea?

[Zoalander]

Thanks in advance.

 

[mbbuna]

Maxima

 

[Opcn]

seconded

 

[JmLee]

nice colors! im jealous.

 

[Zoalander]

Thanks for the info and compliments, thoe dots are actually light pink I don't know why they didn't come out.

 

[Julio]

NICE MANTLE!!!

 

[tangey]

awesome

 

[The steven liu]

Maxima, and wow I love that powder blue. very nice

 

[Fishfreak218]

i thought Crocea had the smoother shells.. i think it is a crocea... lol.... maybe im wrong.. but it look like the shell is smoother than my maxima's

 

[XeniaMania]

Definitely Maxima, may I inquire where you got it?

 

[Drewcipher]

Out of curiousity, how are you so sure it is Maxima. I thought the only sure way to tell was by the shell which you can't see very well, but what I see is a smooth shell, as did Fishfreak. I would have guessed Crocea.

 

[XeniaMania]

The mantle gives it away. Croceas do not have such pronounced ones, plus the coloration is totally Maxima. Another way to tell is the line of dots around the rim, Croceas do not have those. Here's what a Crocea looks like.

 

[sundance1]

Could it be a cross between Crocea and Maxima?The shell definatly looks smooth like a Crocea.

 

[Zoalander]

I got it from a LFS they got a ton of them in from an aqua-culture farm from australia. I was in there last night and saw a dozen more that were nicer then this one, at around $50 depending on size you can't go wrong.

 

[XeniaMania]

Hybrid clams are rare, and very expensive. The only 2 hybrids I've ever seen are Maxima/Derasa(Maxima shape with Derasa coloring) and Derasa/Gigas. They both went for $3000 each. Not all Maximas have super long ridges on the shell.

 

[johnvu713]

did you say 3K?

 

[Zoalander]

I'll get a side view pic tonight.

 

[Fishfreak218]

i heard going by the mantle was a bad way if ID'ing clams

 

[Meloco14]

Mantle is in general a bad way to ID. But if you have been around clams for a while you can make a pretty accurate ID based on the mantle. I would say this is a maxima from the mantle shape. The large, rounded "lips" on the mantle are very maxima-esque. Maxima shells have more ridges when they are smaller, when they are bigger the ridges are pronounced near the top of the shell, near the bottom it is more smooth. From this top down shot you are looking at the bottom of the shell and I'm willing to bet there are ridges on the shell hidden from view by the mantle. However, a side shot showing the shell would make for a more sure-fire ID.

 

[XeniaMania]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6761749#post6761749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johnvu713
did you say 3K?

Yup $3000 smackers for a hybrid. It's really one of those 1 in a million things.

And yes, when you've been in the hobby long enough and seen enough clams, you can tell by the mantle. I'd be willing to put money on the fact it's a Maxima, that's how sure I am.