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Does clams have a heart?
A clam’s shell consists of two (usually equal) valves, which are connected by a hinge joint and a ligament that can be external or internal. Clams also have kidneys, a heart, a mouth, a stomach, and a nervous system. Many have a siphon.
Has anyone been killed by giant clams?
Adult T. gigas are the only giant clams unable to close their shells completely. Even when closed, part of the mantle is visible, unlike the very similar T. derasa.
What is inside a giant clam?
What’s inside a clam? A retractable foot, a siphon for sucking up water, powerful muscles, and, sometimes, a pearl. Like oysters and mussels, clams are bivalves, a kind of mollusk that’s encased in a shell made of two valves, or hinging parts.
Do giant clams have brains?
Clams don’t have a centralized brain like mammals. However, they do have a nervous system, giving them the ability to feel things and react.
What is the largest clam ever found?
Giant Clam facts
- The largest giant clam ever discovered measured 137 centimetres and weighed around 250kg!
- In centuries before, giant clams were nicknamed ‘man-eating’ clams, due to the belief that they ate divers whole!
- By day, giant clams open their shells so that the algae inside them get a chance to photosynthesise.
Do giant clams feel pain?
Yes.
What is the size of a giant clam?
Giant clams grow to be about 4 feet in length. They live in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans. The exposed mantle, or soft tissue, of a giant clam, features a combination of colors and patterns that can include yellow, green, iridescent blue, and purple.
Are You a giant if you live next to a clam?
You may not be a giant when next to a giant clam. Giant clams are very large bivalves, shells with two pieces that are hinged together, and are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, in coral reefs. The giant clam has the scientific name Tridacna gigas, and is a mollusc from the family Cardiidae, the family of cockles,…
How do giant clams eat plankton?
They also use a siphon to draw in water to filter and consume passing plankton. Giant clams have a wildly undeserved reputation as man-eaters, with South Pacific legends describing clams that lie in wait to trap unsuspecting swimmers or swallow them whole.
Can a giant clam kill a human?
No account of a human death by giant clam has ever been substantiated, and scientists say its adductor muscles, used to close the shell, move far too slowly to take a swimmer by surprise. Even the largest specimen would simply retreat into its shell rather than attempt to sample human prey.