Tridacna crocea

giant clam
Tridacna crocea
Tridacna crocea, Torres Strait, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green

Distribution


Description

Rock boring species which embeds its entire body into substratum, leaving only the mantle exposed. Mantle is usually brightly coloured, ranging from blue, green, purple, white to brown, with numerous hyaline organs across the mantle. This is the smallest burrowing clam, reaching 15cm in length at maximum. 


Information

Max Size: 15 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 22.1-31.2°C

Depth: N/A

Habitat Generalization Index: N/A

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Occurrence: Common (32.7% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Several (8 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.