Bad Smells (AKA what is even IN clams)

[Tired]

I had a 2" turkey wing clam come in on my live rock. It was alive at first, but died yesterday, probably from starvation- this is a new pico, there wasn't much for the poor thing to eat. It has some good algae on the shell, so I pulled it out and put it in a jar of saltwater, to keep the algae alive and contain the smell. 

Today, I realized I should probably get that jar dealt with before it did anything in particular. So I took it outside, poured it out where we're going to put our garage (so it wouldn't kill any plants), and instantly became surrounded by a cloud of flies like I was in a cartoon. I'd brought a spoon to clean the shell out, but there wasn't any need. I turned it over, and all the meat inside had liquified. Disgusting.

Anyone know what it is about clams that makes them do that? I know oysters go bad fast when they die. Fish don't rot nearly as fast, though, or shrimp, or land animals. Is it something about the chemical composition of them that makes them rot fast, or do they have a lot of bacteria in them ordinarily? The meat sure doesn't look like the meat in most other things. 

 

I don't envy anyone who's ever tried to deal with a bigger dead clam. I can't imagine if this had been one of those really big ones. You'd have the world's worst smoothie, in the world's worst cup, topped off with who knows what kind of bacterial sludge. 

[sadie]

That is terrible, but I have no idea.  Another good reason I don't eat sea food. 😆

[Tired]

I mean, I don't think it's anything that makes them dangerous. And there's no need to worry about freshness if you get them yourself, since you'll be able to check that all are alive, which is the freshest they can possibly be. I just wonder what about them degrades so fast. Other molluscs don't quite do this, I don't think.

[Vhexxen]

From an anatomical perspective, they’re a nearly inanimate sac of guts 😛 they aren’t travelling to find food and all their structural support is external.  The intestines of larger critters goes to slime pretty quick as well, but clams just don’t have a lot supporting or shielding theirs once they can’t hold their shell closed.

[Tired]

Ah, that would do it. 

[Dufus6384956]

Could it be dying??

[Tired]

Given that it didn't shut when I touched it, it easily came off the rockwork when pulled, and it was completely liquified when opened the next day, I'm thinking it's probably dead.