Clam and anemone buddies?

[Mhayes462]

Has anyone ever seen an anemone and a clam hang out like this before? They've been this way for a few months now. The clam was there before the anemone. Then the anemone decided to move under the rock and come up right underneath the clam and brush against it and crowd it all day. At first I was worried and tried to move the clam, but it wouldn't let go. I decided to just leave it. I figured if the clam was unhappy then it would let go. Anyone have experience with this? Will the anemone eventually kill the clam?

Mike Hayes

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Great pic & good question... hopefully some member will know & we will all learn.

 

[ReefingFun]

Did not experience it myself yet, but I came up with some similar cases in my research on them(clams). There is a mixed feeling when it comes anemones/corals and clams being close to each other. Some say the clam will get hurt and others don't.
From the amount of pics I saw where a coral or anemone is brushing against the clam, it seems that some - if not all - species of Tridacna are oblivious to the brushing. Mostly people separate them out of precaution it seems, but I have yet to see evidence that a clam will get hurt.

Personally I believe they have a small layer of slime that "might" protect them from certain stings. I do not have evidence of that, however I came across topics where the owners stated when their clam was dying, they saw a slime layer coming off the clam. Again, this is just an assumption and it might be complete bs, but next month I will test this for sure when I get my clam.

 

[Mhayes462]

Thanks for the input. It seems that the hobby as a whole, just really doesn't know. The funny thing is, it has 4 folds on the mantle and the area around the second fold up from the bottom started dying a lil while back. I was sure the nem had caused it and it was a goner. The shrimps were picking at it and all. It healed up and bounced back just fine with the nem on it the whole time.


Mike Hayes

 

[ReefingFun]

Thanks for the input. It seems that the hobby as a whole, just really doesn't know. The funny thing is, it has 4 folds on the mantle and the area around the second fold up from the bottom started dying a lil while back. I was sure the nem had caused it and it was a goner. The shrimps were picking at it and all. It healed up and bounced back just fine with the nem on it the whole time.


Mike Hayes

Hmm really interesting. Gonna try to look more into the anatomy of the Tridacna species when I have some time again. The answer needs to lay somewhere in there I believe.
Thanks for sharing!