Help! Squamosa hinge problem

[dkuster]

OK, a couple of months ago my 4" squamosa clam was barely opening up. I noticed that something didn't seem right in that it looked like the two halves of the shell were misaligned somehow. I picked up the clam, and it was obvious the two shell halves had rotated in relation to each other and then gotten stuck that way. It's as if the hinge muscle relaxed too far, or maybe is weak.

By applying gentle force I was able to snap things back into alignment and the clam instantly improved.

But then it happened again a few weeks later.

Now it's happening every other day.

I brushed the shallow sand bed away so that the clam is sitting directly on the glass bottom. I would think that would give both halves of the shell even support, and yet this is still happening.

Any thoughts? Is there any way to save the clam or is this problem going to continue to get worse?

[mbbuna]

its called ligament degeneration. the back half of the shell is connected by ligaments. this happens to some clams, the cause really isn't known but is thought to be a bacterial infection. some clams heal some dont but even if the ligament doesn't heal the clam usually lives just fine

[dkuster]

Thanks so much for the info!

Can I leave the shell halves misaligned and just leave the clam alone, or should I continue to try "helping" by manually aligning the shell?

Originally posted by mbbuna
its called ligament degeneration. the back half of the shell is connected by ligaments. this happens to some clams, the cause really isn't known but is thought to be a bacterial infection. some clams heal some dont but even if the ligament doesn't heal the clam usually lives just fine

[mbbuna]

i would align it one last time and then try to place it in a way that it will tend to stay in line. you might try putting some rubble rock on each side