Giant Clam
Tridacna gigas · Mollusc
The largest living shellfish, up to 1.4 m across and over 200 kg, fixed for life on coral sand and rubble in reef lagoons and flats of the Indo-Pacific, within 20 m of the surface; it can live over a century. Tales of clams trapping divers are false, it closes far too slowly, but lifting one gives hernias, strained backs and crushed toes. The adductor muscle is eaten as a delicacy, and since the Renaissance the shells have served as holy water fonts in Catholic churches.
- Danger
- Harmless
- How it is met
- Alone, day and night
- Size
- Large
- In winter
- Active in winter
Where it lives
Gives
Giant Clam Muscle, Giant Clam Shell
Sources
- Kari Tervo, Rebecca Ann Csomos, Tridacna gigas (giant clam). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2001.
- Tridacna gigas. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2026.
- Bénitier géant. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 2026.
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