Clam predator/Snail boring hole HELP!

[scubadude]

For the past week my 6" Maxima has been partially retracted, and last nite I shined a flashlight on the maxima and I saw a long tentacle retract into a very small hole that was bored into the side of the clam shell. I waited about 30 minutes and went back and looked again....this time I saw two of them Is my clam destined for death now? is there anyway to save him?

[Ninong]

Scubadude,

Was it a tentacle or a worm?

Anyway, here's a quote from Daniel Knop that is interesting:

"Other predators, such as some worms, are more cunning. They will actually drill a hole to gain entrance into the clam, creating perfectly round holes that penetrate the shell wall. Some of these unwanted visitors seem to form a type of commensal relationship with the clam — they live their entire lives embedded within the shell itself, never entering the soft tissues of the animal and doing no visible harm to the clam. It is therefore questionable whether they should be considered clam predators at all."

Ninong

[scubadude]

That is a very valid question, that I wish I could answer. I saw a tentacle come out of a hole. It was like a nassarius snail tentacle (just the tentacle though). I did NOT see any shell, so maybe it was a worm? I do think that it is affecting the clam though cuz the clam was expanding much more before this incident. Here is a pic of the clam and its funny cuz the one side that appears to be retracted most of the time is the opposite side of where I saw the tentacles, however upon closer examination of the other side of the clam shell I saw holes that could possibly be bored by snails/worms too. I have been reading my Knopp book and there doesnt seem to be alot of extensive info on this subject

[Ninong]

http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/a...ll/default.asp