Welcome to the Lizard Island Research Station blog
Life at Lizard Island Research Station is never dull. Fabulous coral reef environment, exciting discoveries, interesting visitors, amazing natural events! This post includes giant clam spawning, just to get you started.
This is the place to stay in touch with the wild and wonderful life at Lizard.
With amazing biodiversity on our doorstep and more than 300 visiting scientists and students each year doing more than 100 projects, there's always something new going on.
© Australian Museum
The photo shows a Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas) spawning. We've seen clams spawning many times, always in summer and always in the mid to late afternoon. This clam was photographed just before sunset one day last summer at Kevin's Reef, a few nautical miles east of Lizard Island. The clam gently moves its valves a few times then suddenly draws them together and a massive stream of spawn is expelled through the excurrent siphon. The process is repeated several times by the same individual at 10 to 20 minute intervals
