You’re probably familiar with teardrop ‘maxima’ clams which were recently described as a new species, Tridacna noae. But have you ever heard of a teardrop Squamosa clam? Us neither, but this recently revealed specimen acquired by Global Reef Supply sure does blur the lines between a teardrop T. noae and excellently spotted T. squamosa.
How do we know this clam is indeed a good card-carrying member of the Tridacna squamosa species? It came from a new clam farm in Australia from parents that were obviously squamosa clams, with all its siblings sharing more typical squamosa clam patterns. We wouldn’t be surprised if there was some confusion with the true identity of this species upon importation, but this is not the first case of bizarre, boundary-blurring Tridacna specimens.
We’ve seen curious cases of Tridacna maxima also showing a weird blend of features, with these individuals having the distinctive outlined spots that we see in recognizable teardrop clams. It is not unusual for Tridacna squamosa to show a spotted appearance but this Australian captive bred really does make us do a double take.
