giant clam
giant clam
| Noun | 1. |  giant clam - a large clam inhabiting reefs in the southern Pacific and weighing up to 500 pounds |
| 单词 | giant clam | |||
| 释义 | giant clamgiant clam
giant clamgiant clam,common name for the largest bivalve mollusk in the world, Tridacna gigas, also known as the bear's paw clam. The giant clam may weigh over 500 lb (225 kg) and attain a length of over 4 ft (120 cm). The heavy shell is coarsely fluted and toothed. Giant clams are found in the South Pacific and Indian oceans, especially in the Great Barrier Reef. They lie with the hinge downward in the coral reefs, usually in shallow water. The adductor muscles, which cause the shell to close, are a source of food for people of the South Pacific. The shell closes very slowly; stories of human beings trapped within giant clams have never been substantiated. Small giant clam shells have been used as birdbaths and baptismal fonts. An interesting symbiosis occurs between a unicellular green alga (Zooanthella) and the clam. The algae live in the tissues of the clam's siphon and mantle; they are able to obtain the sunlight needed for photosynthesis because the clam lies with its valves opening upward and part of the thick, purple mantle extruding over the shell. In addition, there are crystalloid vesicles on the mantle surface that let in sunlight, thus allowing the algae to live deep within the tissues. The clam uses the algae as a supplementary or perhaps even a major source of food. Tridacna gigas is classified in the phylum MolluscaMollusca, taxonomic name for the one of the largest phyla of invertebrate animals (Arthropoda is the largest) comprising more than 50,000 living mollusk species and about 35,000 fossil species dating back to the Cambrian period. ..... Click the link for more information. , class Pelecypoda or Bivalvia, order Eulamellibranchia, family Tridacnidae. giant clam
Synonyms for giant clam
|
|||
| 随便看 |
|
英语词典包含2567994条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。