Giant tridacna [1] [2] , or giant cocked hat [3] ( lat. Tridacna gigas ) is a large species of marine bivalve mollusks that lives in the reefs of the Pacific and Indian oceans.
| Giant Tridakna |
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| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
|
| International scientific name |
|---|
Tridacna gigas Linnaeus , 1758 |
| Synonyms |
|---|
Chama gigantea Perry , 1811 |
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The length of the shell can reach up to 1.2 m, and the mass of large specimens can exceed 200 kg [4] . Life expectancy often exceeds 100 years.
The giant cocked hat is a typical filtrator that consumes unicellular algae and microorganisms, passing water through it.
It can produce pearls , whose dimensions are often impressive, but which have no jewelry value. The largest, documented pearl was 24 cm long, 14 cm wide, 15 cm high and 6.4 kg weight ( Lao Tzu pearl ) [5] .
In 1956, a clam 1.15 m long and weighing 333 kg was found on Ishigaki Island (Japan) [6] . It was the largest clam on Earth, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
