The Giant Clam

Term Paper Title	The Giant Clam
# of Words	430
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	1.72

The Giant Clam

     The giant clam is known as a reef dwelling
mollusk.  The domestication factor has

become of large importance to the
Indo-Pacific peoples.  Mainly in the area of their diet.

These huge clams
are huge targets for fishermen and can be found easily.  With the crystal

water
complection of the reef waters they live in makes them even easier to be spotted
by

the fishermen an by poachers.  The people of this region eat every part
of the flesh of the

animal.  They either dry, cook, or eat them raw.

     In
Taiwan there has been a large illeagal industry of selling these huge clams.
With

a demand of somewhere around 100 tons of the meat a year that is
worth around $7.50-

$21.25 a kilogram at the dockside of Taiwan.  It is
being severely poached by foreigners

and the population of the giant clam
is decreasing.  The reefs that they live on are also

being severely damaged
and destroyed in large amounts.  The giant clam has been

eliminated from
the areas of Indonesia and the Phillippines.  The species Tridacnid gigas

and
the Tridacnid derasa are the most heavily hunted species.

     Tridacnid gigas
are the largest of the giant clams.  They grow to around a meter in

length
and weigh around 300 kilograms.  These particular clams are hermaphrodites
which

reach sexual maturity at aroun...

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