Tag: clam

Round Clam

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P1050656In the corner of my eye, sighted this unique bivalve slightly open camouflaging among marine plants. It has unusual form unfamiliar to the best known bivalve such as oysters, clams, mussels and scallops. Just like its sisters, this lowly specie sits in a corner waiting for its prey.  it has round valve shells, though its hinge is somewhat hidden. It quickly closed up at a faint shadow and movement.

There are over 30,000 species of bivalves including the fossils one, all of them live in the water, most of them in the sea or brackish waters. Have you ever encountered this round clam?

Disco Clam!

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The clam was flashing red lights!
The clam was flashing red lights!

Ctenoides ales, known to scuba divers as the “electric clam” or “disco clam”, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Limidae, the file clams. The clam has been given these nicknames because its soft tissues flash light like a disco ball.

Studies revealed that it is not a bioluminescence phenomenon, but is instead coming from reflection of the ambient light, either the sun or diving light.  It was my second sighting when we dive  in Moalboal last June,  a rare specie I didn’t encounter them in any other dive sites we visited so far.