[Nhcoll-l] Tridacna mount for display?

[Shoobs, Nate]

Hey all,
I have a Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas) in our collection that is stored on an old metal hospital cart, precariously balanced on a small piece of shag carpet. It is about 4'x3'x3.5' and extremely heavy. I don't have a good estimate on the weight, but it definitely takes 2 people to lift.
We're doing some construction in the museum and moving it recently has made me want to kill two birds with one stone and make a more permanent display mount for the specimen that is sturdier has a smaller footprint than the rickety old hospital cart, so I can put it in a more public area and get it out of our collection area where it currently sits.

For those of you that have giant clams on public display: how are they supported or mounted/ how is the base constructed?

I've seen clams in other museums mountwd both 'angel wing' style, with the valves open and facing the viewer, and 'normal', with the valves connected and closed, with the bottom valve supporting the top valve. But I never looked at how they were supported in either case.

This clam does have data (not very good data, but a name, a date, and a vague place), and it is catalogued in the collection. I don't want to do anything too destructive to it.

Feel free to respond direct to me off-list with pictures!
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Nathaniel F. Shoobs, Curator of Mollusks
College of Arts & Sciences Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University
Museum of Biological Diversity
1315 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212
614-688-1342 (Office)
mbd.osu.edu<http://mbd.osu.edu/>
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