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View Full Version : Need help with Identification...Clam and Coral


kveille
11/06/2008, 01:32 PM
Well I bought a few small pieces of Live Rock yesterday from the LFS and there was a clam attached to one of the pieces. Can any tell me what kind it is or if it is a good hitchhiker?

Also, I notices what looks to be some sort of coaral colony on one of my rocks. Can anyone help with identification and let me know if it looks healthy and how I should care for it? Thanks.

Coral???

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq227/kveille1/DSC03422.jpg

Clam (on the grund between the two rocks)

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq227/kveille1/DSC03424.jpg

Sugar Magnolia
11/06/2008, 02:04 PM
That's a dead coral skeleton - hidden cup coral. The clam I don't know about. It's not unusual to have hitch hiker clams.

Don-Coraleone
11/06/2008, 02:11 PM
could be some kind of mussel.

kveille
11/06/2008, 02:20 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13694187#post13694187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sugar Magnolia
That's a dead coral skeleton - hidden cup coral. The clam I don't know about. It's not unusual to have hitch hiker clams.

Would a dead coral skeleton appear after the LR had been sitting in the tank for 3 weeks? I check my rock daily and never saw this until yesterday. I was a little excited about the coral, but I knew that it being that white might not be good. It looks like it has some green in the middle of it.

J. Montgomery
11/06/2008, 02:27 PM
Definitely a dead coral skeleton; it didn't just appear.

kveille
11/06/2008, 02:33 PM
Maybe it was just covered by algae and I didn't see it before. Thanks.

J. Montgomery
11/06/2008, 02:38 PM
The mussel may or may not survive. They can move around some, and they'll typically find a secluded place to settle.

pagojoe
11/06/2008, 09:11 PM
The clam is a true clam, not a mussel or oyster, although I can't tell you which species from the pic (and it might be difficult even if you had great photos of it). There are quite a few smooth white clam species. They are all harmless filter feeders, in any case. Any clam that's white and smooth is a hider, so it will probably try to bury into your gravel soon.

Cheers,



Don