Squamosa shell

DmitryB · 2026-10-24T18:04:18-0400

I got a Biota squamosa a few weeks ago; pretty decent size. What is this on its shell? At first I thought "hey that's a cool snowflake pattern on its shell" but I'm starting to think that's not normal? I figured Biota wouldn't have weird hitchhikers on their stuff.

KrisReef · 2026-10-24T18:39:55-0400

Those appear to be invasive clove polyps. I would not be happy if I had received this clam from anyone if I didn’t know that it was coming with these before hand. Nasty business, sorry.

DmitryB · 2026-10-24T18:41:10-0400

What's the first thing I should do with the clam??

thamnasteroid · 2026-10-24T19:44:51-0400

tunicate or bryozoan, not clove polyps

DmitryB · 2026-10-24T19:53:27-0400

I'm confused!!

I was going to take the clam out of tank and use Joe's Juice, but it's attached to the bottom glass. So...

Is this thing whatever it is going to kill my tank or ???

Decamicron Labs · 2026-10-24T22:16:45-0400

Take a picture under whites. If this is a tunicate, it is likely the genus Botryllus. If you are not dosing phyto, it will probably go away on its own. If its the octocoral, its not clove polyps (Clavularia) but instead probably a species in the collection of morphologically similar corals people are calling Sarcothelia. You may have a problem if its the latter.