Maxima Clam

About

The maxima clam (Tridacna maxima) is one of the most visually arresting invertebrates you can keep in a reef aquarium, and also one of the most variable. No two individuals look quite the same. The fleshy mantle that runs along the shell opening comes in an almost endless range of colors and patterns, from electric blues and purples to greens, golds, and browns, often with detailed spotted or rippled markings. In the wild, this species ranges across a vast stretch of the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea all the way out to Pitcairn Islands and up to southern Japan, where it lives attached to hard substrate on shallow reef flats and slopes down to around 35 meters. It is the most widely distributed of the giant clams and also one of the more commonly seen in the hobby. Like other tridacnids, it gets the bulk of its nutrition from symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae living within its mantle tissue, which means strong, appropriate reef lighting is essential rather than optional. Despite being listed as a beginner-friendly species, it does need a stable, well-established reef system to thrive long-term. Get the conditions right and this clam can live for decades. Potentially longer than many of the tanks it starts out in.