This close-up picture of a giant clam (Tridacna gigas: 20 cms.) shows the coloured patterns formed by colonies of single-celled dinoflagellate symbiotic algae near the edge of the mollusc's mantle. The central elongated cavity serves as a means of circulating water inside the animal in the course of feeding on microplankton. Individuals of this species can grow to more than one metre in length, weigh up to 200 kilograms and live for over 100 years. Sadly, it is becoming rarer as its meat is highly prized by humans; it is listed by the IUCN as vulnerable. Photographed in the Egyptian Red Sea.

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Size: 2324px × 2917px
Location: Daedalus reef, Egypt
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, algae, clam, creation, dinoflagellate, diving, egypt, giant, gigas, iucn, live, marine, natural, red, scuba, sea, selection, symbiosis, trd5143, tridacna, underwater, vulnerable