Why are giant clams expensive?

Giant clam shells are also highly prized for their beauty and are often used in traditional crafts, such as carving and inlay work. In some cultures, the shells are used as a musical instrument or as a ceremonial object. Finally, some species of giant clams, such as the Tridacna gigas, are known for producing pearls.
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How rare are giant clams?

The giant clam, Tridacna gigas, is rarely found among coral reefs these days due to years of overharvesting. However, giant clam aquaculture has become a successful alternative to wild collection. Giant clams are a highly regulated species, protected under the Endangered Species Act.
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What are giant clams used for?

Because of their high tissue mass and heavy calcified shells, humans have been using them for both food and building material. Along with this demand, habitat degradation, technological advances in exploitation, and expanding trade networks have decreased giant clam numbers throughout their range.
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How much is a gigas giant clam worth?

Huge, fast, and worth a whopping 15,000 bells each, players will want to find and capture the Gigas Giant Clam as often as possible. Players will notice a huge shadow in the water when a Gigas Giant Clam is nearby.
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How much are giant clam pearls worth?

The Giga Pearl is reported to be worth $60–$200 million USD.
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How One of the Largest and Most Expensive Clams Is Farmed — Vendors

What is the rarest pearl color?

Naturally colored blue pearls are the rarest pearl colors in the world (with one or two exceptions, which we will get to below).
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What is the rarest pearl ever found?

Who is famous for wearing pearls? Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly and Coco Chanel are just some of the leading ladies famous for wearing pearls. What is the most rare pearl? The most rare pearl in the world is the Melo Melo, which is produced by a sea snail and not an oyster or a mollusk.
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Are giant clam shells illegal?

Giant clams are now protected by national legislation in most range countries.
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What is the rarest clam?

Hippopus porcellanus, the China Clam, is arguably the rarest species of giant clam living today. It has a very restricted range second only to the Devil Clam, but it is extremely rare where the species has been found.
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Can humans eat giant clams?

Both the giant clam's mantle tissue and the large muscle that closes the shells are edible and highly prized by people throughout the Pacific and Asia. The shells are taken for decorative purposes. As a result giant clams are heavily harvested and have become rare on many Pacific reefs.
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What kills giant clams?

The main reason that giant clams are becoming endangered is likely to be intensive exploitation by bivalve fishing vessels. Mainly large adults are killed, since they are the most profitable.
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What is the lifespan of a giant clam?

This unique species is found to be a wide variety of colours, created by a contrast between algae inside the clam and the clam's natural pigment. This vibrancy is an indicator of clam health—if the clam is unhealthy, the dying algae will bleach it to a bright white. Giant clams, when healthy, can live up to 100 years.
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What eats a giant clam?

Despite their gargantuan size, they do have a few marine predators like starfish, snails, reef fish and eels who take advantage of the sessile nature of the giant clam and settle in for a bite.
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Why do giant clams make pearls?

Mollusks make pearls as a protection against irritants that sneak into their soft tissue. They do so by exuding layer upon layer of shell material. For some animals, this material is nacre, or mother of pearl. “All the animal is doing is putting a rind around an intruder, like a grain of sand or parasite,” said Meyer.
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Can giant clams make pearls?

Like nacreous pearls, tridacna pearls grow in mollusks. Specifically, they form in bivalve mollusks of the Tridacna genus of clams. This genus includes giant clams of enormous size. In fact, the largest pearls ever found from this genus are weighed in kilograms rather than carats.
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Do giant clams taste good?

The taste being only slightly salty, with a light sweetness and a clear clam taste. The smoked mantle took up the shape of a ring. This product being considered more tasty, although more chewy than the adductor muscle.
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How big is the 500 year old clam?

The size of the clam was 87 mm × 73 mm (3.4 in × 2.9 in).
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Why are blood clams illegal?

Blood clams are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because these animals can live in anoxic environments and therefore can pass along diseases such as typhoid and hepatitis to those handling or consuming them.
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Can a clam live 200 years?

Ocean quahogs are some of the longest-lived sea creatures in the world, according to NOAA. Some, such as Abra-clam Lincoln, can live for at least 200 years old.
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Do giant clams bite?

No, although a giant clam can weight as much as 400 plus pounds it would take way too much energy for a clam to close its mouth on a humans extremity. Clams don't have that much energy to begin with. When a clams mouth is open is when it's relaxing.
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What happens if you put your hand in a giant clam?

If you were to accidentally get your arm or leg caught inside a giant clam's shell and it closed, it could lead to a potentially dangerous situation. The clam's powerful closing action could cause severe injury or even fracture bones.
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What is the biggest clam ever recorded?

The largest known specimen of giant clam was over four and a half feet (1.3 m) wide and weighed approximately 550 pounds (250 kg).
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How rare is a black pearl?

Natural Black pearls (uncultivated) are extremely rare and are found in about 1 in every 10,000 oysters. In an effort to preserve the species, it is illegal to dive to find natural pearls.
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Are pearls rarer than diamonds?

Yes. Natural pearls are definitely more rarer than diamonds. Natural pearls are formed by mollusks and this whole process is relatively rare. On the other side , diamonds are formed deep down in the earth and the process is more predictable, so the diamonds are more available to us than pearls.
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How rare is a blue pearl?

The Rarity of Blue Pearls

It's exceptionally rare to run into a blue pearl in any of these pearl types, even though blue pearls are found almost everywhere – Tahitian, Freshwater, South Sea, and Akoya. Blue Akoya pearls were outcasts at one time in the pearl industry, but have since recently gained renewed popularity.
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