Wrapped in a thick shell, wood with a brain and a lone leg (a retractable object that looks like a tongue is actually his leg), the clam gives the feeling that it is difficult to have a chance to mate. However, millions of baby clams are still born every year, relying on luck.
In the life of a clam, they have to undergo many changes to grow into what we know. In adolescence, all clams are juveniles because sperm are smaller and sperm production is quite resource-intensive than eggs. Young clams have no space to store eggs or the resources to make them. Only when they reach adulthood and do not need to devote most of their energy to growth will it be possible to transform into female clams.
clam
Clams generally begin to breed when the water temperature is warm, and depending on the clam species and different geographical locations, the breeding season usually occurs in spring, summer or autumn. When the time comes to maturity, juvenile clams release sperm from the ocean and then hopefully wait for these sperm to encounter eggs laid by older female clams. Every mating season, millions of clam sperm/eggs float in the water. Once a fertilized egg is formed, it quickly grows into a mulberry embryo (because it looks like a mulberry).
After a day or two, cilia will grow on the clam embryos, which further become larvae that can swim in the water. Next, the baby clams grow shells and legs and become plankton-fed dough larvae. During this time , the appearance of the clams became closer to that of adult clams , with one side of the dough larva being straight and the other side round ( matching the shape of the clam shell ) , and growing two shells and a multifunctional leg. When the shell becomes hard, the juvenile clam settles to the bottom of the sea and begins to live a more stable life. From birth to becoming a juvenile clam, it takes about eight days to two weeks.
Juvenile clams can use their legs to dig holes in the sand on the seabed, or make small movements, or act as straws to feed. Most clams lie in nests on a sandy bottom, only sticking out their legs to absorb water and filtering out plankton to eat. Occasionally, when the sand surface needs to be moved, the clam's photoreceptor can detect the predator's shadow, which in turn helps the juvenile clam escape the disaster. Juvenile clams generally live a peaceful life at the bottom of the sea until the next breeding season arrives.
Although only about 10% of the fertilized eggs of clams produced during the annual breeding season make it to youth. But if a clam is shrewd enough (or simply lucky) not to be eaten by predators, it can live to be 30 years old, grow to 10 centimeters, and become a female clam.
Clam Trivia:
Seafood from summer shellfish is more susceptible to bacterial/viral infections, so shellfish use in summer is more susceptible to food poisoning. Clams have less mercury content than larger marine fish (tuna, grouper), so even pregnant women can consume 340 grams of clams per week. Live clams can be stored on a plate covered with a wet towel for up to 10 days. Don't eat clams that are already dead. When you see an open clam, you can poke it, and if the clam closes the lid again, it means that it is still alive.