Back to blogging! = Giant clam spawning on TMSI, SJI

Hello everyone! It's been a long hiatus for me. I skipped 3 rounds of low tides with my friends in preparation for my experiments and giant clam spawning. Yep! You heard it right, we conducted an induced spawning of the giant clams!

Here shows a photo of the 12-day old larvae sticking its foot out. :) Yes, this baby's birthday was last January.


So some of you may be curious, what exactly is the life cycle of the giant clam? This chart aptly describes the larval stages. Yes! Giant clams produces eggs and sperm separately, and during induction, these gametes are collected separately before fertilization. You can click on the image to go a website that introduces all about giant clams!

(Photo credits to AquaSearch - Clam Culture)

The life cycle of the larval stages last up to 25 days before you can see distinct shell valves and some resemblance to the adult giant clams. For more information on the larval stages, I would recommend this reading on Nature in Singapore ;)

Spawning induction and larval development in fluted giant clams, Tridacna squamosa. Nature in Singapore.

Here's some photos of the process and my stay on the facility during the spawning. Papa and Mama clams from Raffles Lighthouse! My colleague says that these clams are really big for T. squamosa! That's great to know as it means that they are of ripe age for reproducing babies. :)


Another batch of T. squamosa broodstock that arrived shortly after the first spawning. We are so happy to have acquired them as they have beautiful blue-green mantle coloration! (Better photos next time!)


On the day itself, there was a lot of frenzy (and me squealing!). Some of the Mega Marine Survey volunteers that were present that day were in luck of observing the whole process of collection. I must add that the squirting of gametes was likely the 'most exciting' part.

Here shows two of my colleagues taking a short break after the collection. Look at the number of toyogo containers! An intensive laborious work indeed...


Ah hah! A table to cater for the 'sperm donors'... Each of those canisters with purple lids contained dense numbers of sperm from one Papa clam! :) Upon collection of eggs, these eggs are fertilized by mixing several Papa donors to ensure a good mix of genes...


As for me, it was a frenzy too! I conducted an experiment to measure gamete longevity... It's been a long time since I had conducted such experiments! Look at my design and green sticker labels...


After which, data was collected and counted (omg!)... Here's a photo taken by my colleague of me working on Sunday morning of the spawning week. Hardworking! haha... Check out the number of vials that I had to count...


I really like staying on the island... Besides my spawning work, it's a great place for birding! The resident white peacock perched around the facility... This bird has been here even before I started my project (that's 5 years ago)! So this bird is at least 15 years of age! O.o


An icon for successful rehabilitation in Singapore, the Oriental Pied Hornbills are a common sight on the island during our stay. They come by every morning to give me a wake up call, and come by every evening to bid me goodnight. hahah...


As part of the larger project, these baby clams will eventually reside on our local reefs. Ria shared a little about the giant clam project that was shared by NParks. Hopefully in the near future, more clams will be seen on our shores.