Mysterious clam death!

[Vanmo92]

This morning when checking out my tank I noticed one of my tridacna clams (I was told maxima crocea hybrid) shell gaping and the clam itself looking wrecked in the shell. There is a large tear or hole on one side and its all shriveled. As of yesterday it was seemingly fine, reacting to things and the shell has been growing very well, lots of new growth around the edges. I have another clam and as if now he is seemingly just fine. The clam is still moving a little bit occasionally so its not quite dead yet. I know there is very little if any chance of recovery but Im wondering what could have caused this...and try to prevent it happening to the other. Could a fish have done this? Maybe the foxface. They close up tight if anything messes with them so I kinda doubt it. I see right now there is an asterina star on the inside of its shell. Im guessing it wandered in after the clam let go if its shell but does anyone think this could be a culprit? The edge of the clam was in contact with some button polyps, however thats been the case for months as well. They've been in the tank since February and have been looking good the whole time. Bacterial infection, worms or something?

 

[miyags]

look underneath the clam for a long worm eating it from below.

 

[Stephanie11]

Poor clam. Been there, my prized clam one day decided it didn't want to live.

By the way foxface and tangs can nip clams and the clams not even flinch. I think the clam thinks it's cleaning the algae off.

My tangs nip my clams all the time. A couple months ago I thought my purple was going to kill a maxima I've had for over 4 years.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Attacked by a snail or worm through its byssal gate. Watch THIS video.

 

[Vanmo92]

Interesting. I tried to lift the clam but it was still anchored to the rock pretty well so I didnt disturb it. It did close up slightly when I messed with it but nothing like its usual response. It does have a fairly large byssal gape so it would make it more susceptible. I didnt see anything alarming when inspecting the base/shell with a flashlight. There was a bristleworm on the rock near the base that receded between the clam and the rock when I put a flashlight on it. There are tons of bristleworms in the tank. Could these be damaging to clams?

 

[miyags]

Well with me, I purchased 2 6in clams. They were fine for 2 months, Then one started to look like yours, So I started testing the water. It was fine, looking for pest, Nothing. One dieing the other one is side by side and in perfect health?. What The. Well it died in about 4 days so I took it out before it fouled my tank. One week later my other clam started to look bad, pinch mantel look. So I was going to do a freshwater dip. When I pulled it out a 7in worm came out with it, It was eating the clam alive from underneath. Ended up losing the clams and never tried them again.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

What a bummer! I love clams. Keep us posted!

~CI