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Giant Clam Appearance & Behavior These clams have a thick, heavy shell with fluted edges that protects the mantle, or soft tissue, inside it. Its mantle is colorful displaying patterns of brown, iridescent blue, green, yellow, and purple. The algae stored in this clam's body is what makes its mantle so colorful.
- What are the characteristics of clams?
- Has anyone been killed by giant clams?
- How many eyes do giant clams have?
- How long do giant clams live?
- What are shared characteristics that are found in clams?
- Can clams swim?
- Can clams crush your finger?
- Do clams feel pain?
- Can a clam bite you?
- Do clams have teeth?
- Can giant clams swim?
- How old are giant clam shells?
- How old is the oldest clam?
- Why are giant clams colorful?
- Do clams have eyes?
What are the characteristics of clams?
True clams, in the strict sense, are bivalves with equal shells closed by two adductor muscles situated at opposite ends of the shell, and with a powerful, muscular, burrowing foot. Clams characteristically lie buried from just beneath the surface to depths of about 0.6 metre (2 feet).
Has anyone been killed by giant clams?
No account of a human death by giant clam has ever been substantiated, and scientists say its adductor muscles, used to close the shell, move far too slowly to take a swimmer by surprise. Even the largest specimen would simply retreat into its shell rather than attempt to sample human prey.
How many eyes do giant clams have?
The mantle's edges are packed with symbiotic zooxanthellae that presumably utilize carbon dioxide, phosphates, and nitrates supplied by the clam. The mantle border itself is covered in several hundred eyespots about . 5mm in diameter.
How long do giant clams live?
A giant clam can live 100 years or more! The clam's bright colors are the result of the algae living inside its body.
What are shared characteristics that are found in clams?
Clams, like sponges, are filter feeders. The soft body of the clam is protected from predators by a two-parted shell that is hinged. The shell is produced by a tissue called the mantle that is adjacent to the shell. The clam has a pair of very large gills, and the surface of the gills is covered with cilia.
Can clams swim?
Scallops and file clams can swim by opening and closing their valves rapidly; water is ejected on either side of the hinge area and they move with the flapping valves in front.
Can clams crush your finger?
This clam can grow to five inches across but the legal harvest limit is two inches across. The shell is soft and can be crushed with your fingers. ... They are found from Labrador to North Carolina and are called by different names including "piss-clam," "long-neck clam," "steamer," "Ispwich clam," and "belly clam."
Do clams feel pain?
Yes. Scientists have proved beyond a doubt that fish, lobsters, crabs, and other sea dwellers feel pain. Lobsters' bodies are covered with chemoreceptors so they are very sensitive to their environments.
Can a clam bite you?
No, although a giant clam can weight as much as 400 plus pounds it would take way too much energy for a clam to close its mouth on a humans extremity. Clams don't have that much energy to begin with.
Do clams have teeth?
Asian Clams have 3 cardinal teeth visible in each valve. The hinge has 2 lateral serrated teeth in each side of the right valve and one on each side of the left valve. ... Fingernail Clams do not have serrated lateral teeth and only have 1 or 2 cardinal teeth.
Can giant clams swim?
Giant clams live in partnership with tiny plant-like algae. ... No account of a human death by giant clam has ever been substantiated and scientists point out that the clam's adductor muscles, the muscles used to close the shell, move far too slowly to take a swimmer by surprise.
How old are giant clam shells?
It takes giant clams many years to reach full size, but they can live 100 years. Their shells provide a home to billions of algae, which give the clams' mantle such brilliant colors.
How old is the oldest clam?
At 507 years of age Ming the clam broke the Guinness World Record as the oldest animal in the world. Collected off the coast of Iceland in 2006, initial counts of the annual rings of the shell put the age at around 405 years old, which was still a record breaker.
Why are giant clams colorful?
A clam's multicolored shell is wildly colorful thanks to the many algae forms (also called zooxanthellae) that grow within its body. ... Nutrients then flow through the mollusk's body to provide all the necessary nutrients for the algae to survive. Like coral, algae is the food of choice for giant clams.
Do clams have eyes?
Clams lack heads, but most can react to changes in light and some have eyes. All clams have two shells joined near a hinge structure with a flexible ligament, and all are filter feeders. Clams also have kidneys, a heart, a mouth, a stomach, a nervous system and an anus. Many have a siphon.
