Comfortably sitting on the Golden Throne, just the perfect resting place for this majestic Tridacna seashell which may be hundreds of years old. Known by the cientific name Tridacna derasa (or obesa) this treasure comes from the South Pacific island of Tonga where it is getting increasingly rare. Shells of this small family (comprising about 5 species in this genus and two more under genus Hippopus) were formerly widely distributed with colonies known from Red Sea area, and these in turn were known in ancient times where they got their latin name: Plinius in his Natural History said of them: ...tridacna apellavit, tantae amplitudinis intellegi cupiens, ut ter mordenda essent (Plin.Nat.32.62) ...an oyster that big you cannot swallow it easily.
