billyWhite
New member
My clam hasn't been doing too well lately. He's been losing pigment pretty steadily. I searched around to find out why and I'm pretty sure he's got a case of pyramid snails. I was going to remove my clam to try scrubbing him when I noticed this strange thing on his side. I know he's had it since I purchased him (about 2 months ago), but I didn't realize the strangeness of it until now.
What's weird about it is that it opens and closes - almost like a trap door on the side. I think it might be part of the clam, since it reacts like the clam, i.e. when the clam closes up, so does this little trap door. It's hard to photograph any clearer than I have, but along the opening of this little flap seems to be tissue with small 'teeth', similar to the opening of a flame scallop or the big opening of the clam. I'm wondering if it's a wound that never healed up.
Any info would be great - I'm concerned about taking him out of the water with a wound, or if it's a parasite, I want to try to remove it, but am concerned that I'd be tearing a chunk out of its shell (since the pattern seems congruent with the rest of the shell)
Here's a photo of the little opening opened up as wide as it gets
Here's a photo of it straight on
Here's a photo of the foot since every clam health thread seems to ask for one
What's weird about it is that it opens and closes - almost like a trap door on the side. I think it might be part of the clam, since it reacts like the clam, i.e. when the clam closes up, so does this little trap door. It's hard to photograph any clearer than I have, but along the opening of this little flap seems to be tissue with small 'teeth', similar to the opening of a flame scallop or the big opening of the clam. I'm wondering if it's a wound that never healed up.
Any info would be great - I'm concerned about taking him out of the water with a wound, or if it's a parasite, I want to try to remove it, but am concerned that I'd be tearing a chunk out of its shell (since the pattern seems congruent with the rest of the shell)
Here's a photo of the little opening opened up as wide as it gets
Here's a photo of it straight on
Here's a photo of the foot since every clam health thread seems to ask for one
