[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:40, topic:4481”]
Am I understanding this right? When the bissel threads are cut they can not heal. BYSSAL THREADS ARE our fingernails, they can regrow, not ‘heal over’. Are they considering the foot just the tissue thats on the bottom or including the threads that the clam uses to attach itself to the rock?[/quote]
here’s a picture of a crocea’s foot taken in my tank. no byssal threads yet. on top of the foot, on the bottom of the shell is the “pedal mantle,” which the crocea can use to eat away at rock [it secretes an acid, or something like that, to dissolve the rock]. i don’t have a pic of byssal threads
Your clam has a big foot. Mine never did since I have owned it. I thought the foot was the part the bissel threads connect to on the clams body( the whitish part under it). I have the whitish part at the base then the threads no thick thread/foot like you can see in your picture.
it’s a lucky pic since the clam chose a rock with that hole. your clam has to have a foot. ive never seen the foot of my derasa, but it has to be there
I have never seen it on either of my clams. When I get a chance I will take a pic if I can without disturbing them to much.
The byssal gland if damaged can heal, however if the gland is removed it will not regrow and its not always a death sentence. The byssal threads are a secretion given off by the gland and can be cut and will regrow if the clam wants to. The threads have no blood supply or nerves just like our hair or nails.
I would like to see the snail you found on the clam. There are a lot of misidentified snail in this hobby and some of them turn out to be predatory. This may not be the case here since you have other clams that havent been killed by this same snail but its something to look at.
[quote=“Chris_Barb, post:45, topic:4481”]
The byssal gland if damaged can heal, however if the gland is removed it will not regrow and its not always a death sentence. The byssal threads are a secretion given off by the gland and can be cut and will regrow if the clam wants to. The threads have no blood supply or nerves just like our hair or nails.
I would like to see the snail you found on the clam. There are a lot of misidentified snail in this hobby and some of them turn out to be predatory. This may not be the case here since you have other clams that havent been killed by this same snail but its something to look at.[/quote]
That is really good info. I did not know the byssal threads grow back. I can see the gland on it just not the foot that shows in Moliken’ picture.
It is a 1" Nassarius snail. I only see them on things that are dying never anything really living. They seem to just know when something is dying.
The foot and gland are the same thing. The one in Pauls pic is just extended.
Here is a picture of the snail for whom asked about it.
Thanks to a1amap for posting a bunch of hitchhiker lists I am going through I found that the snail in question was a Melongena corona or so I believe and their diet is snails and bi-valves. I am glad something in my tank finally decided to take it out. This may be why I would find it on snails I thought were dying but instead it was killing them. Found the name and a picture from the link
As you can see it has the same shape and the goldish stripe.