Tridacna

[ trih-dak-nuh ]

noun

1. a genus of giant clams inhabiting reefs in the South Pacific, attaining a diameter of 4 feet (1.2 meters) or more, and weighing over 500 pounds (227 kilograms).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Tridacna¹

First recorded in 1770–80; from New Latin, noun use of feminine of Latin tridacnus “requiring three bites,” from Greek trídaknos , equivalent to tri- “three” + dákn(ein) “to bite” + -os adjective suffix; tri-

Example Sentences

Tridacna gigas contain marine algae which are a food source for many of the fish species eaten by humans.

From BBC

The lab would switch from raising the colorful species to growing the biggest of the 12 species of giant clams, Tridacna gigas.

From National Geographic

So, they returned to Palau to take detailed measurements of light inside the clams — Tridacna derasa, T. maxima and T. crocea — with the help of a fiber-optic probe.

From Scientific American

Tridacna, trī-dak′na, n. a genus of bivalves, the giant clam, without the shell weighing 20 lb., with the shell so much even as 500 lb.

From Project Gutenberg

The Tridacnidæ, whose sole genus Tridacna contains the largest specimen of the whole class of bivalves, the shells sometimes measuring two feet and more across.

From Project Gutenberg