Tridacna costata is a newly discovered species of giant clam

Clam

The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...

. It lives in the shallow waters of the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

. Fossil evidence suggests the stocks of these giant clams began crashing some 125,000 years ago, during the last interval between glacial periods.

"Tridacna costata may be the earliest example of marine overexploitation

Overfishing

Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....

," said researcher Claudio Richter, a marine ecologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research

The Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research is a scientific organization located in Bremerhaven, Germany. The institute was founded in 1980 and is named after revolutionary meteorologist climatologist, and geologist Alfred Wegener...

 in Bremerhaven, Germany.