Tridacnid Clam ID help needed

[jcreeftankguy]

I bought this clam labeled as a gold crocea but my dilemma is this lfs had a horrible track record with mislabelling things. I once picked up four high end bubble tips from them as they were labelled pink condy's. I know shame on me, I'm a horrible person for not pointing that out to them, lol. However my good buddy who is a respected clam keeper on this forum tells me that this may infact be a maxima. I'll post a few pics here and see if we can get this figured out.
http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s622/gulfsurfer101/20140411_151951_zpslgsq38al.jpg (http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/gulfsurfer101/media/20140411_151951_zpslgsq38al.jpg.html)
http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/s622/gulfsurfer101/20140411_152051_zpsfuivoemr.jpg (http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/gulfsurfer101/media/20140411_152051_zpsfuivoemr.jpg.html)

[moliken]

crocea that kinda looks maxima ish

[CReyes350]

crocea that kinda looks maxima ish

I agree

[jcreeftankguy]

That's the same thing I got from OrionN, my good buddy and local clam expert. Could it possibly be one of those hybrids being sold on Divers Den and similar websites that claim to have bred them. That's my only thought but I was under the impression that they were just fabled to bring up a market for driving up prices for less than desirable clams. I'll get a better pic today one the lights kick on since these were taken minutes after adding into my tank.

[moliken]

the hybrids are very diff than this, essentially one half of the mantle looks completely diff from the other half

[llandegfedd]

I'd say. T.crocea.

[jcreeftankguy]

Ok, thanks guys. After reading on a few pages thst help identify tridacnids, I'm leaning towards the same conclusion.

[bsagea]

I would go with maxima. Check the bysal opening on the bottom - it will definitely give you the species.

[moliken]

not a maxi

[OrionN]

That look more like a Maxima to me.

[DiscusHeckel]

It is a crocea.

[OrionN]

That is a Maxima, or much more Maxima like than Crocea.

Typically Crocea have about 5-7 folds while Maxima have 4-5.
In maximal mantel, there is a roll of eye spots on the edge of the mantel which this clam have. Below are pictures of a typical Crocea and one of a typical Maxima

Crocea
http://img.21food.com/20110609/product/1306174743488.jpg


Maxima
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Tridacna_maxima_1.jpg

[jcreeftankguy]

The eyes along the outer edge of the mantle do look like they match up, however I have bad news. The clam didn't make it 48hrs in my tank. I've had terrible luck with clams lately and am either leaning on my lighting aclimation may have not been done correctly and led to stress, or my system may still not have settled fully. I combined two very established 20L tanks into my new 75g and kept a close eye on ph, ammonia, nitrate and nitrites and didn't notice anything spike. I used new dry sand that went through a diatome bloom but cleared up rather quickly. This is the fourth clam that does not survive in this tank while some were completely happy in my old 20L under weaker lighting.

[OrionN]

I am sorry to hear about your clam. That is 100 dollars down the drain.

[toshiba]

Hybrid of a maxima and crocea

[jcreeftankguy]

Yep, that's a hundred bucks I could have used somewhere else. I am currently looking at controllers and can't decide between the reefkeeper lite with ph probe and net capabilities, or three apex with the same features just a few hundred more bucks. I'm leaning more towards the apex and that hundo sure would have been a big help.