Teardrop byssal gland finished! /w pics

[James Yeung]

Oh oh...

I just picked up a 6" and 2.5" teardrop.

The 2.5" is fine...

I saw that the byssal threads were on the 6" and was looking pretty good at the LFS for 3 days and reacted to shadows normally. Good stuff... It wasn't ripped off.

When I got home, I then noticed that the byssal gland was only attached by a very thin thread (and I'm not talking about the byssal threads). The byssal gland smelled fresh and I'm unsure if it was ripped off or not since the whole thing looks undamaged (besides dangling by a thread). I can't help but wonder how it could be ripped off when collected only to be held together just by a very thin thread. I'm now wondering if it's possible that the clam was trying to shed the whole thing off due to stress!? What the heck, I figure it was going to fall off anyway, so I did the deed with a razor and took these pictures.

This is sketchy... nothing I can do now besides wait and see...

Here are some pics after 2 hours in the tank:

6" teardrop:

2.5" teardrop:

James

 

[yuhsuen]

not 100% certain, but I think clams can regrow their byssal glands

 

[JR719]

Hopefully it pulls thru. Keep us posted, that is a nice clam and would not want to see it go down the tubes.

Jeff

 

[James Yeung]

I hope you guys are right. I've searched the whole forum about byssal glands and came up with no concrete answer. All I know is if this was the result from ripping it from the rocks, the survival rate would be very low. I've read one message about a maxima with no byssal gland for 2 years and has never grown back and croceas growing back theirs. If this 6" lives, I'll provide an answer.

My maxima still looks healthy. I gave both clams a nice scrubbing before putting into my tank. Last night, I was on a look out pyramid snails and/or other intruders and so far so good.

James

 

[James Yeung]

Here are some pics about 24 hrs later.

The whole clam family:

Unfortunately, I don't have a QT tank.

My 72G is maxed out with clams (bought the others almost 2 years ago). If this is a success, no more clams for me unless I have a QT tank. Too much invested to risk more additions.

James

 

[Azurel]

I have a Bluetear drop Maxima that has torn off its byssal glands 2x and does not look any worse for wear both times. I would say not to worry if it looks and acts like it does normally.Just keep an eye on it from P.snails and bristleworms.

 

[James Yeung]

Azurel: thanks for providing your outlook.. As for the pyramid snails. Dammit! I just discovered I officially have them. I just plucked 4 from my tank in the last 30 mins. I'm 99% sure it didn't come from my new arrivals. I scrubbed and inspected them hard (zero found in the bucket I used for scrubbing).

I guess the p. snail population was in check for the last 2 years. Maybe it was thanks to my six-line wrasse, but I lost that guy last week. I have no idea what happened to the poor guy. I think it's time to buy another one just in case it actually did its job!

James

Update: damn, I spotted 6 more... I only plucked 3 of them... I can't keep up with this... I need to sleep on this. plucking them is really hard... I think I need to setup a bare bottom QT tank in the near future if this gets out of control. ARRRGGH!!

Yeah, I'm starting to see alot more now from under the sand and around the live rocks. Looks like 2am is breakfest time for them... These snails definately did not come from my new arrivals. They're starting to come out in force! However, my clams still look perfect. What do I look for? Damaged mantle tissue? Hmmm.. Buying these new clams may have saved me a lot of trouble in the future... I may just move 'em all to a bare bottom QT 'clam' tank. ARrrggh!

However, they don't look pure white... The shell is kinda brown and has a chess board type pattern just like this close up picture of the snail on the right that targets snails located in the middle of this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=489644&highlight=pyramid

 

[James Yeung]

18th day update:

Big one with missing byssal gland is doing great! From all the reading here, clams can suddently go kaput in 24 hrs. So far so good.

As for the pyramid snails, there still hanging around, but I haven't been staying up past 2am to see them in action. Last time I saw, they don't seem to be attacking the clam at all. One just crawled over the mantel and that was that!?!?

James

 

[Azurel]

Glad to hear that they seem to be doing ok.....

 

[James Yeung]

Alright, I declare my byssal less maxima safe and sound.

Currently, the mantel is not sagging anymore (like the first pics). It's firm and holding up like the last pic.

Thus, I am lead to believe that the maxima shedded the byssal gland on it's own, not ripped off.

If it was ripped off, should have died within 2 weeks in most cases. 3 weeks with me and at least 1 week at wholesale+LFS from harvest, it's safe to say it's going to live unless I screw up my tank.

James