Fluted giant clam
Tridacna squamosa
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 207674, checked 2026-10-31). Subfamily Tridacninae.
- English
- Fluted giant clam
- Scientific
- Tridacna squamosa
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Maximum size
- Up to about 45 cm (shell length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 0 to 42 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2024CITES Appendix II
Description
The fluted giant clam has a large shell, up to about 40 cm, with wide, frilly, scale-like flutes along its ribs. It sits freely on the reef or is lightly attached, rather than deeply embedded. Its mantle is usually mottled brown, green, blue or gold. It lives on shallow reef slopes and in lagoons.
In the Maldives
One of the two giant clams taken in the Maldivian export fishery that began in 1990 (Basker 1991). Like all giant clams, it is listed on CITES Appendix II. Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=7); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=140, 89 observers); SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Tridacna-squamosa.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207674
- inaturalist.org /taxa/50591
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Tridacna_squamosa_(Giant_clam)_brown_and_blue.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.