What ate my clam?

S

slumpysix

New member
Hey all...
yesterday I bought a green crocea clam from my lfs. It was on the small side but I have been wanting a green one. Once home after acclimating, the clam started to open up. I noticed a snail moving up on the shell of it. Keeping an eye on it, soon the snail covered the entire mantel area of the clam. I grab the snail off and moved it to another location. Half hour later the snail was on the clam again and this time there was slime all over the clam. I grabbed the snail off again and moved it into the rocks along with his 2 other buddies that were around. Lights went off and I check this morning and the poor little guy was eaten, the shell was clean on the inside. Needless to say i wasn't happy. I have had a Maxima going on 8 months now with no problems and now this. Could the snail have eaten it? Or maybe led to it's death and the other night creatures in the tank "did" what they do best. I'm at a loss.
Thanks for any help...
Jeff
 
if you have another clam in the tank and you havent removed those snails yet i would asap.

can you post a pic of the snails
 
yeah here's a pic. I have three of them and they are coming out today
snail.jpg


I am bad with names so I don't remember it.
 
looks like a nassarius which should be harmless ...... so i'm thinking whelk. check out this it may help you identify them.

sorry about your lose and as mbbuna said either get the snails out or the other clam, until you know.

another thought, are you sure the clam wasn't on it's way out and the snails were just cleaning up? it's odd that they went after the crocea and have left the maxima alone for 8 months
 
by a4twenty
looks like a nassarius which should be harmless...

...another thought, are you sure the clam wasn't on it's way out and the snails were just cleaning up? it's odd that they went after the crocea and have left the maxima alone for 8 months
Click to expand...

This is probably the most likely scenario.

Looks like you have the tongan nassarius snails. They have an incredible sense of smell, so they're able to quickly zone in on any decaying matter in your tank. Since your maxima is healthy, they've left it alone. Although, the crocea might have looked okay on the outside, it likely was already dying within, which is what the snails were smelling.
 
I agree on the ID most defiantly nassarius which usually stay mainly in the sand bed. Its the Pyramidellidae snails you have to worry about killing your clams.


As for what actually killed or ate your clam... ?????
 
what worries me is the way the snail tried to eat the clam(enveloping it in it mantle). more predatory then scavenging
 
Thanks for all the replies! Yes I can believe about the sense of smell thing because when I feed the tank these things barrel out of the sand and search for the food. The mantel never really came out of the shell but I did see the inside and it looked fine. It just makes me wonder about the LFS where I bought it from. Second time something has died from there within a week and I probably will not go back there. It's one thing to have an animal die from a problem in your tank but jeez come on, give us a chance with a heathy as possible one for us to have a chance in our tanks. Anyways, it might have been almost dead when it came home and then the shock going in my tank ended it.


Jeff


Here is my other clam, has a more darker blue color these days...
clam.jpg
 
I think a more pertinent question is what killed your, clam? Not what ate it? Some nassarius can envelope some large prey item, but I would doubt it would try to swallow a clam that was not on its way out.
 
very well put...

very well put...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8600448#post8600448 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unarce
This is probably the most likely scenario.

Looks like you have the tongan nassarius snails. They have an incredible sense of smell, so they're able to quickly zone in on any decaying matter in your tank. Since your maxima is healthy, they've left it alone. Although, the crocea might have looked okay on the outside, it likely was already dying within, which is what the snails were smelling.
Click to expand...
Agreed.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8612237#post8612237 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by baussie
That's a beautiful maxima clam. Do you remember what grade it is..if maximas come in grade.
Click to expand...
I don't have a clue as to a grade. Right now the clam has about a 4.5" dia. ....Thanks for the comp thou...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8616356#post8616356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lrac2006
I don't have a clue as to a grade. Right now the clam has about a 4.5" dia. ....Thanks for the comp thou...
Click to expand...

the clam in the above photo is a Crocea. the grades they give them are really a marketing term, but they would call that a 1st grade or electric
 
i have the same snails,nassarious,in my tank with 3 clams.They dont even look at the clams.

I agree with the guy who said that they smelled the clam decaying from the inside.
 
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