New clam, torn foot

[cwatkins]

See attached image. Does it look okay? I think it was just the threads

[fkshiu]

It should be OK. The byssal gland itself still looks intact. The clam is now, however, more vulnerable to attack by pyramid snails from underneath.

You can minimize the chances of this by making sure the clam firmly reattaches itself to a solid surface thus sealing off its soft underbelly. A nice trick is to prepare a handful of epoxy putty and smoosh the clam onto the epoxy while it's still pliable. You'll end up with a perfect imprint of the clams bottom. Set the epoxy aside to harden - you don't want to leave the clam on the hardening epoxy since it gives off a lot of heat that could hurt the clam. After the epoxy hardens, you now have a custom mount for your clam making it very difficult for snails to burrow underneath to attack the byssal gland. You also have a handy dandy mobile base should you ever need the move the clam in the future.

You should carefully trim the loose byssal threads with a scalpel or an extremely sharp pair of scissors before remounting the clam. I find that this encourages the clam to reattach itself more quickly. Make sure not to cut too close to the gland itself.

Keep a close eye for the teeny little snails at night (they are nocturnal). They look like tiny pointed grains of rice. Remove manually if you see any. Wrasses like six-lines do help by eating the snails, but unfortunately the fish are usually asleep when the snails are most active at night.

There is also the danger of the clam expelling the byssal gland in its entirety. This is not necessarily fatal, but it does expose the clam even more to attack from underneath and prevents it from reattaching to rock.

[christyf5]

Excellent advice Franklin