HELP my clam deattach leaving the byssal gland

[Luis]

Hi guys.

My clam has been in perfect shape for about 3 years but suddenly it deatach by itself leavin its byssal gland in the pvc pipe that it uses as home for the last years.

I have read clams sometimes do that but the question: all of them survives? what are the possible risks? special care? All you know about this guys... please

Thanks.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Hey fellow clam keeper. Yep its perfectly normal fro the clam to release its byssal gland. They do this in the wild if you research it. I got two new deresas and they both released their byssals after being introduced to the tank.

 

[Ben1]

This depends on the clam, it is normal for a larger derasa..but not for crocea or maxima. What kind of clam are we talking here?

 

[Anonymous]

It is still "normal" for crocea or max., just not as often as deresa, which can detach once every few months.

I won't be too concern about it. It will send down another byssal in a few weeks, so just keep it happy like a clam in the mean time. The more you bother it, the less likely it will attach in a time manner.

 

[Ben1]

Ive been keeping clams for some time and never had maximas or croceas release their gland unless they were unhealthy. Its JMO/JME as always but I would be concerned if a maxima or crocea Ive had for 3 years dropped its gland. Ill have to look back over my fatheree book when I get home from work today.

Derasa's do this in nature once they reach a certain size, they no longer need the holding power as their weight is enough.

 

[chris&barb]

I think everyone is confusing byssal threads with byssal gland. It's common for clams to release their byssal threads (fiber looking white/yellow clump of strands). They will regrow these threads and reattach. These threads are a glandular secretion kinda like hair. They can be cut (by you ) or released by the clam with no harm being done to the clam.

The byssal gland is another story. Clams will one expel their byssal gland if it is infected. If a clam does this there is a very good chance the clam will not make it.

I suspect that what happened above is the clam released its threads and will be just fine.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Both of my clams that released their glands are deresas. The OP hasnt relpied saying what species they have but I was assuming it was a deresa since this is the most common species to release their glands.

 

[chris&barb]

Both of my clams that released their glands are deresas. The OP hasnt relpied saying what species they have but I was assuming it was a deresa since this is the most common species to release their glands.

Where are you getting this? Do you have any reference's?

Gigas, derasa and the hippopus', as the grow rely on there mass to hold themselves in place so their byssus atrophy's but they do not expel it.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish ... i1810.html
"The Derasa Giant Clam reaches sexual maturity after is about 12 inches long, when it loses its byssal gland."

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fishnch ... c0700.html
"As the clam grows, it will lose its byssus gland, relying on size and weight to hold it in place"
:wink:

 

[blackcloudmedia]

It may be symantics but when I placed my clams into my new tank there were no other living species other than algae and bacteria. Then after a week there were two "glandular" objects on the bottom of the tank. The clams are doing great and their gonads are orange (in spawning condition) so I know they didnt release them out of stress. THis was a month ago so I dont have the glands anymore to photograph.

 

[chris&barb]

http://www.centralpets.com/animals/fish/saltwater_inverts/swi1810.html
"The Derasa Giant Clam reaches sexual maturity after is about 12 inches long, when it loses its byssal gland."

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fishnch ... c0700.html
"As the clam grows, it will lose its byssus gland, relying on size and weight to hold it in place"
:wink:

I would not rely on those two links as a source of definitive information.

I just did some searching to try and corroborate why these links say and i could not find one single research paper that backs this up.

The larger clams will loose byssal attachment as they grow but they don't loose the gland its self.

Then after a week there were two "glandular" objects on the bottom of the tank.

When clams are moved and they had been byssaly attached previously, the byssal threads are commonly cut. This leaves some byssal threads still attached to the gland. In order for the clam to secrete new threads it must first expel the remaining threads, most likely this is what you saw. Tridacnids do not expel their gland when they get to a certain age or size they simply stop using it and it Atrophy's

 

[blackcloudmedia]

What was left behind was not threads. I know what threads look like. It was a gland approximately 2 inches by 1/4 inch. It looked like a thready squid (hard to describe.) Ever since then the clams do not emit threads and there is no gland on the bottom.