{"id":231794,"date":"2026-01-07T06:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/231794\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T06:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:06:12","slug":"when-scientists-went-to-a-group-of-remote-south-pacific-islands-they-werent-expecting-to-find-so-many-of-these-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/231794\/","title":{"rendered":"When scientists went to a group of remote South Pacific islands, they weren\u2019t expecting to find so many of these giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers in American S\u0101moa were surprised to find that giant clams are faring much better than expected. These huge\u00a0molluscs<\/a>\u00a0are at risk from many human threats \u2013 including overharvesting, warming waters and pollution \u2013 but community-led management has proven successful in protecting them.<\/p>\n

Scientists from UH M\u0101noa Hawai\u02bbi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) ToBo Lab studied data collected over several decades to determine the size and density of giant clams in American S\u0101moa, a group of volcanic islands and coral<\/a> atolls in the South Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

Areas managed by local villages had more clams and the individuals were bigger compared with no-take reserves where the federal government does not allow extractive activities, such as fishing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The findings are published in the journal\u00a0PeerJ.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"MaximaA vibrant blue giant clam photographed among coral in the shallow waters of Muli\u0101va in American S\u0101moa. Credit: Paolo Marra-Biggs<\/p>\n

Capable of growing to more than one metre long, giant clams are, arguably, one of the world\u2019s most iconic molluscs. These huge creatures are immediately recognisable thanks to their bright mantle \u2013 which makes them look like they\u2019re wearing lurid lipstick \u2013 and play an important part in keeping reef ecosystems healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Giant clams are vulnerable to several human threats, in particular overharvesting \u2013 they can be collected for their meat and shells (for souvenirs) as well as to be sold to aquaria. In many regions, they are being removed from the environment more quickly than populations can replenish themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Increasing\u00a0water temperatures and ocean acidification<\/a>\u00a0also pose a problem and, as filter-feeders, giant clams can also be negatively impacted by water pollution. So, the researchers were surprised to find some giant clam populations thriving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany expected that giant clam populations would be in sharp decline, especially near populated islands,\u201d says the study\u2019s lead author\u00a0Paolo Marra-Biggs<\/a>\u00a0in a statement. \u201cInstead, we found that clam abundances have remained relatively stable over the past 30 years, and in some areas have maintained high abundances.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The data illustrates how successful Indigenous management can be. \u201cThe biggest surprise was that village-managed closures outperformed federally protected no-take areas, highlighting the efficacy of cultural stewardship,\u201d says Marra-Biggs who is a PhD student at HIMB.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TridacnaA giant clam known as Tridacna maxima in Fagasa, American S\u0101moa. Credit: Paolo Marra-Biggs<\/p>\n

Learning which conservation methods have the best results is important if we are to find the most effective ways of protecting these vulnerable animals. There are currently proposals to list several types of giant clam under the\u00a0U.S. Endangered Species Act<\/a>\u00a0(ESA) but the scientists warn against blanket bans in areas where native community protections are already working.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe push for ESA listing is supposed to protect giant clams, but our data show that in areas where federal no-take protection already exists, clams populations were among the lowest,\u201d says the study\u2019s senior author\u00a0Robert Toonen<\/a>, Principal Investigator of the ToBo Lab.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He worries that federal restrictions could have a negative impact in areas where traditional Indigenous management is already resulting in high densities of healthy clams. \u201cIf giant clams were listed as endangered species, these traditional practices that have maintained high clam densities in the region would become illegal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The research team highlights the importance of working directly with local communities \u2013 like they did for this study \u2013 and hope their results will help to better protect vulnerable species such as magnificent giant clams.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an honour to contribute to the stewardship of the absolutely stunning reefs of American S\u0101moa,\u201d says Marra-Biggs.<\/p>\n

\"TridacnaTridacna maxima in Maloata, American S\u0101moa. Credit: Paolo Marra-Biggs<\/p>\n

Top image: American S\u0101moa. Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

More wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers in American S\u0101moa were surprised to find that giant clams are faring much better than expected. These…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-231794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}