Clam Help!

[triggerhappy]

Hi everyone,
I recently took a clam from a mates tank that he was closing down, it looks like it is on it's way out, sad to say:(
One "end" has a hole in the tissue, ie the colourful bit you see when it opens up (sorry, I am not really up on the anatomy of a clam and the names for it various body parts!). The hole stretches as the clam opens, and shrinks when it closes, which I suppose is natural. The other end seems fine.
I do not expect this to be normal by any stretch of the imagination, but are my fears confirmed?
Please let me know!!!

[instantsquid]

It sounds to me like you're referring to one of it's siphons. Clams have two siphons, or openings in the mantle. Water is taken in through one, food particles are filtered out, and the water passes out through the second siphon.

It might be worth looking at some pictures of healthy clams to ascertain whether yours looks okay. Although not generally too demanding in their requirements, it's still worthing doing a little reading up on their care.

- Ian

[triggerhappy]

Hi Ian,
Thanks for the reply.
I have done some searching on the net, and have seen the 2 syphons on the pics/diagrams of clams that I came across, but none really resemble what this clam looks like. The syphon on the "good" end looks fine, but the other end that should have a syphon instead has the hole in stretched tissue (unless that is what the syphon looks like when taking water in?):confused:

[instantsquid]

Is it possible you could upload a photo? It would help a lot.

- Ian

[triggerhappy]

...at work at the mo, I will try later, but had probs trying to upload pics in the past.

[markey]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e7/markey1975/DSCF0748.jpg

here is a top down pic that might help does yours look anything like this :confused:

[Andy]

doesnt look too bad to me, looks normal, might be wrong though

[triggerhappy]

Hi guys,
Sorry for the late reply, I came home on the same day as I started this thread, and the clam had died. When I moved it (all the inwards merrily floating about), I saw a bristle worm float away from it:mad: :mad: :mad:
Anyway, sad to see the clam go, thanks for the help (by the way, the pic on the thread that someone else posted is a HEALTHY clam).