Commonly referred to as the horse’s hoof, bear paw, or strawberry clam, Hippopus hippopus is widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, occurring from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the west to the Republic of Kiribati in the east, and from New Caledonia in the south to the southern islands of Japan in the north.
Most often, H. hippopus is found in shallow, nearshore patches of reef, sandy areas and seagrass beds, but it can also be found on coral reefs as deep as 32 feet.
H. hippopus has a heavy, thick shell that features prominent reddish blotches in irregular concentric bands. The mantle usually exhibits mottled patterns in green, yellow-brown, or gray and does not extend over the margins of the shell.
Decades of intense, unregulated harvest has driven H. hippopus to low abundance throughout much of its range. Past and ongoing harvest for meat and shells is the primary threat to this and other giant clam species.
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Bivalvia |
| Order | Cardiida |
| Family | Cardiidae |
| Genus | Hippopus |
| Species | hippopus |
A grant project in Guam is setting up giant clam aquaculture in two southern villages, Inalåhan and Malesso. Giant clams are a culturally important species in Guam, where they’re also regulated due to overharvesting. Credit: David Burdick
Fifteen of the 83 species included in the Pacific Islands vulnerability assessment. From left to right: Acanthurus achilles, Caranx melampygus, Tripneustes gratilla, Acanthurus triostegus, Scarus rubroviolaceus, Cephalopholis argus, Octopus cyanea, Lutjanus kasmira, Panulirus penicillatus, Triaenodon obesus, Selar crumenophthalmus, Ctenochaetus strigosus, Naso unicornis, Zebrasoma flavescens, Tridacna maxima. Photo credit: Bruce Mundy.