Oh Yes, Piched Mantle

[Barry N.]

Wanted to try to bring you up to speed on our Pinched Mantle Research that some of you as well as Reef Frontiers donated to.

We keep updated our ClamsDirect Forum but will also post some results here as well.

Over the past 6 months we have shipped many dozen clams to the lab, some infected that we collected from aquarist and some healthy.

The protozoan has been identified and they dissected a piece of mantle from each clam and performed the culture assay for the parasite hypnospores.

This week they are starting the therapy trials with three drugs that have a history of success with different protozoans. They all work by different mechanisms.

Things are moving forward! I do not want to release bit and pieces but would rather wait until this project is complete, then I will be writing a paper and FAMA has agreed to publish it or just may publish it on some online magazine.

We have seen a decrease in PM over the past 10 months but still for the time being we still suggest FWD as that seem to work ok but we have also found out that maxima do not do as well as some of the other Tridacnids.

We still suggest that everything should be quarantined prior to placing in your display tank.

 

[Maxx]

Glad to hear this project is still moving forward Barry!

Nick

 

[Jan]

Barry, when you say that Maximas don't do as well, do you mean that the success of the treatment isn't as high, or that they don't tolerate the 20 minute fresh water dip as well, or both?

Jan

 

[Barry N.]

do you mean that the success of the treatment isn't as high, or that they don't tolerate the 20 minute fresh water dip as well, or both?

They don't seem to tolerate the FWD as well as the other Tridacnids.