| Tridacna costata | |
|---|---|
| A shell of Tridacna costata (not verified). | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Veneroida |
| Family: | Tridacnidae |
| Genus: | Tridacna |
| Species: | T. costata |
| Binomial name | |
| Tridacna costata |
|
Tridacna costata is a newly discovered species of giant clam. It lives in the shallow waters of the Red Sea. Fossil evidence suggests the stocks of these giant clams began crashing some 125,000 years ago, during the last interval between glacial periods.[1]
"Tridacna costata may be the earliest example of marine overexploitation," said researcher Claudio Richter, a marine ecologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany.[2]