Possibility of self-fertilization during hatchery culturing of giant clam, Tridacna crocea

Giant clams are simultaneous hermaphrodites and are assumed to ejaculate first and, after completely stopping ejaculation, release eggs. In the seed production method aimed at preventing self-fertilization, each adult clam is induced to ejaculate in a tank and then release eggs in another tank. Giant clams, however, have recently been suggested to continue ejaculation for a period after the beginning of egg release. The overlap between ejaculation and egg release might lead to self-fertilization in the tank used for egg release, especially for the eggs released just at the beginning of spawning. We examined the possibility of such self-fertilization for the giant clam Tridacna crocea and obtained three results. (1) In observations with the naked eye in a laboratory, 2 of 38 T. crocea simultaneously ejaculated and released eggs. (2) In a laboratory experiment, 1.5 to 80.0% of eggs released from each adult clam developed into D-shaped larvae without artificial cross-fertilization. Such development occurred more frequently for the eggs released earlier from each adult clam than for the eggs released later from the clam. (3) In observations at a hatchery, 2 to 94% of the eggs released from 4 of 5 adults were found to develop into D-shaped larvae without artificial cross-fertilization. The three results suggest that at least some T. crocea adults continue ejaculation for a period after starting spawning eggs, which causes self-fertilization.