Oldest CaptiveBred Giant Clam

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=lCZ2AZkxhtE

Our beautiful new 222-page ebook, SAVING GIANTS: Cultivation and Conservation of Tridacnid Clams (by Gerald Heslinga, 2013) is now available for download http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/374835-... [or go to blurb.com and search for SAVING GIANTS] • References: • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n... • This video features the world's oldest known captive-bred giant clam (Tridacna gigas). Now 27 years old, the specimen was produced at the Republic of Palau's MMDC Giant Clam Hatchery by Gerald Heslinga and Frank Perron and taken to the Waikiki Aquarium in 1983 by Dr. Bruce Carlson. At the time this clam was transported to Hawaii it was just 1-2 centimeters long -- about the size of a human thumbnail. • This Tridacna gigas specimen has been maintained in good health in captivity in Hawaii for nearly three decades without feeding, thanks to the skill and dedication of the Waikiki Aquarium staff. It has been viewed by some 5-10 million visitors. • Giant clams are known to derive all or nearly all of their nutrition from zooxanthellae, the photosynthetic algal partners living within their tissues. No feeding of captive clams is required if they are raised in a thriving community of reef organisms including fishes, as seen in this video. The clams are able to absorb essential dissolved nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which are metabolic by-products of the fishes and other organisms in the reef community. • In the early 1980's Palau's MMDC Giant Clam Hatchery became the first laboratory in the world to achieve successful commercial-scale mass production of tridacnid clams. During the next 10 years giant clam breeding technology spread widely and rapidly throughout the tropical Asia-Pacific region. • The MMDC played a central role in the successful transfer of giant clam breeding technology around the Indo-Pacific region, as did Australia's James Cook University giant clam mariculture project, initiated in 1984. The JCU project was funded by ACIAR, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, while the MMDC's work was funded primarily by the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA), the University of Hawaii Sea Grant program and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO). • Selected MMDC References: • Beckvar, N. 1981. Cultivation, spawning and growth of the giant clams Tridacna gigas, T. derasa and T. squamosa in Palau, Caroline Islands. Aquaculture 24: 21-30. • Fitt, W. K., C. R. Fisher, and R. R. Trench. 1986. Contribution of the symbiotic dinoflagellate Symbiodinium microadriaticum to the nutrition, growth and survival of larval and juvenile tridacnid clams. Aquaculture 55: 5-22. • Fitt, W. K., G. A. Heslinga, and T. C. Watson. 1992. Use of antibiotics in the mariculture of giant clams (F. Tridacnidae). Aquaculture 104: 1-10. • Fitt, W. K., G. A. Heslinga, and T. C. Watson. 1993. Utilization of dissolved inorganic nutrients in growth and mariculture of the tridacnid clam Tridacna derasa. Aquaculture 109: 27-38. • Hastie, L. C., T. C. Watson, T. Isamu and G. A. Heslinga. 1992. Effect of nutrient enrichment on Tridacna derasa seed: dissolved inorganic nitrogen increases growth rate. Aquaculture 106: 41-49. • Heslinga, G. A. 1989. Biology and culture of the giant clam. In: Manzi, J. and M. Castagna (eds.), Clam Mariculture in North America. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 461 p. • Heslinga, G. A. and W. K. Fitt. 1987. The domestication of reef-dwelling clams, BioScience 37: 332-339. • Heslinga, G. A., Perron, F. E. and Orak, O. 1984. Mass culture of giant clams (f. Tridacnidae) in Palau. Aquaculture 39: 197-215. • Heslinga, G. A., Watson, T. C. and T. Isamu. 1990. Giant Clam Farming. Pacific Fisheries Development Foundation (NMFS/NOAA). 179 p. • Maruyama, T. and G. A. Heslinga. 1997. Fecal discharge of zooxanthellae in the giant clam Tridacna derasa, with reference to their in situ growth rate. Marine Biology 127: 473-477. • Perron, F E., G. A. Heslinga and J. O. Fagolimul. 1985. The gastropod Cymatium muricinum, a predator on juvenile tridacnid clams. Aquaculture 48: 211-221.

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