What are some adaptations of a clam?
Clams have a muscular foot that they use to burrow into the sediment. Clams are filter feeders and have siphons for pumping water over their gills, which remove both oxygen and plankton (food) from the water. Clams are an important source of food for both land and marine predators.
How does clam protect itself?
To protect themselves clams burrow down in the mud and sand using their foot. They can burrow more than 11 inches! When the tide comes in, they stick their siphons out and inhale fresh seawater to get oxygen so they can breathe.
What does a clam need to survive?
Freshwater Clams do best in established tanks with stable water parameters, and they seem to like water within the tropical fish range:
- Aquarium pH: 7.0 – 8.0; slightly lower is possible.
- Water Temperature: 70 – 80 degrees Fahrenheit; slightly cooler possible.
- Lighting: Standard community tank lighting.
In what ways does the clam differ from other mollusks what modifications are critical for its unique habitat and lifestyle?
In what ways does the Clam differ in its characteristics from other typical Molluscs? It lacks a head, radula, and brain. The nervous system is not cephalized. It consists of three pairs of segmented ganglia connected by nerves.
How does adaptation help with the development of diversity in a population?
Adaptations develop when certain variations or differences in a population help some members survive better than others (Figure below). Some mutations are harmful and the organism dies; in that case, the variation will not remain in the population. Many mutations are neutral and remain in the population.
What are the characteristics of a clam?
True clams, in the strict sense, are bivalves with equal shells closed by two adductor muscles situated at opposite ends of the shell, and with a powerful, muscular, burrowing foot. Clams characteristically lie buried from just beneath the surface to depths of about 0.6 metre (2 feet).
How do clams survive out of water?
Clams are animals, not plants, though they are often marketed as “filters.” This is only partially true. Unlike plants, which filter chemicals out of the water and use light to make food, clams are “filter feeders,” meaning that they eat small organisms and algae that they pull out of the water.
How do clams filter water?
Clams Clean the Water by Filter Feeding Suspended particles in the water are captured by the gills and moved to the mouth for ingestion. The cleared water is then ejected from the excurrent siphon. By this very act of feeding, clams filter phytoplankton (microscopic algae or plants), microorganisms, and detritus.
How does a clams circulatory system work?
Clams have an open circulatory system; humans have a closed circulatory system. Both systems move blood throughout the organism providing exchange of nutrients/oxygen for waste products/carbon dioxide, at the cellular level.
How do clams and bivalves vary from other mollusks?
The mollusks that have a hinged, two-part shell joined by strong muscles are called bivalves. Clams, Oysters, and Scallops are bivalve mollusks and are a familiar food source. While on the other hand Mussels and Oysters attach themselves with a strong thread or cement to solid surfaces.
