Neon Goby and Dursa Clam compatible?

[dotsfriend]

I have had a Dursa Tradicna Clam for about 9 months now and it was doing great. It is about 6" now, having grown from about 4.5 to 5 when I got it. It is showing signs similar to pinched mantle although it appears that they usually do not succumb to this disease (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume...6_4/clams.html).

Over the months since purchase I have added fish and other invertebrates to the system but the only thing that appears to bother the clam is a particular neon goby. At one time it had almost been cut in half by the clam! Both the clam and goby seemed to be doing ok; however, recently the clam no longer fully opens and in one area the mantle is "pinched", meaning that it does not extend up to the shell or over. The rest of the mantle appears okay but colors are not as vibrant as they once were. The clam also does not open fully any longer.

I am going to try catching the goby and put it in the sump (refugium).

Has anyone seen this before and any suggestions on getting the clam back to health?

[Rogue951]

you sure that urchin isn't making it shrink up?
Maybe put the clam so it's got more space to open up? Looks tight up against the glass.
(and the pic is inverted btw... )

I've seen gobies sit on clams at the store all the time without issue. Some even into the opening of the clam.

[tim the toolman]

I have a crocea clam that was being picked on by my cleaner wrasse and was refusing to ever open up fully. I moved the clam to the other side of the tank to see if it would make a difference and also moved it up off the sanded a couple inches onto a rock ledge. Since this change the wrasse leaves the clam alone. Has remained happy and unbothered for the last six months. Coincidence maybe, and obviously a wrasse and goby are different but that's just my experience.

[monocus]

it most likely is eating parasites on the clam

[Treebeard]

I really doubt it's the goby. My neon goby's favourite perch is on top of one of my clams and the clam is so used to it that it doesn't even flinch when the goby parks itself. The goby uses the clam as it's home base cleaning station.

[dotsfriend]

Thanks for the input - all is well. I should have said that the urchin wasn't normally on it and the pinching had been going on for weeks. While I had put the clam in more-or-less the middle of the tank (width-wise) it had moved itself close to the glass. Since it put itself there I assumed that's where it would do best.

I moved the clam over a week ago back to the middle and pushed it deeper into the sand. It now opens fully each day and no more pinched mantle!

I guess like people they don't always make the best choices for themselves. Thanks for the input!

[noirsphynx]

It's possible. My neon goby picked on my derasa clam.

[Skimmerking]

I remember having a squamosa and a derasa clam. My cleaner wrasse that would pick on the matle and the ends of the clam always taken the parisites off to the point the wrasse has to be taken out due to the clam not opening up.

But I know that my clam hosted the clowns that I had in my 240 gal tank. just off topic. Doug can vouch for this one and I have pictures somewhere of the clam with 3 clown fish in side the clam it was funny as heck......