Wiki World: clam

Clams along the United States' eastern coastline are suffering from cancer. Like the "bug" in the Tasmanian devil it spreads from individual contact. Rogue cells jump between clams by floating in the water. The most common cancer of clams is leukemia - the sea creatures have a circulatory system.

The find happened because Carol Reinisch of Massachusetts Marine Biology Laboratory (who works on soft-shell clams) asked Stephen Goof of Columbia University to look for clams getting cancer by a virus. He was shocked to discover a toxic cell that spreads cancer all along the eastern seaboard.

Only two other cases of the spread of cancer by cells are known. One is decimating the Tasmanian devil. The other is transmitted sexually in dogs. At present Geoff Goff's research is supposition. A lab experiment which shows cancer spreading by a cell in water has not yet been done.

Scientists will soon carry out the relevant test. Then we will know whether something dangerous has been discovered. Though people cannot get cancer by eating clams, there could be a danger of getting the same or similar cancer by swimming in water contaminated by the cells.

✴ Biology by Ty Buchanan ✴

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There are many kinds of clams, some of them very large. The bigger ones are classified as "giant" clams. All were thought to be known. However, a new species has been identified. Examples were found at Ningaloo in Western Australia and near the Solomon Islands.

The reason it has been overlooked for so long is because it is very similar to Tridacna maxima, which is quite common. There are a plethora of colors including yellow, green, brown and blues. They are in many different shades of these main colors.

Clams produce large amounts of edible meat for human consumption. Their shells are also valuable for displays. Many species are under threat. They cannot run away and hide from divers and snorkelers. Two similar species in the same region means numbers for each are lower than first thought.

Conservation by Ty Buchanan