Mussel

Friday, 12th December 2003
Richard Bell's Wild West Yorkshire nature diary

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This Common Mussel, Mytilus edulis, shell has silvery blue-grey mother-of-pearl on the inside surface (left) and a pattern of rays on the upper surface (right).
I picked it up on South Bay, Scarborough a few weeks ago. It appears to have four growth rings; perhaps this shows that it was four years old?

Mussel Murder?

The shell has two fragments broken from the rim. This might be where a predator - for instance an oystercatcher - has pecked at the closed shell to get at the creature inside. These marks are diagonally opposite the hinge of the shell which is where you'd expect a bird to try and prise it open.

Mother-of-Pearl

I'd intended to do a watercolour to show you mother-of-pearl interior of the shell but didn't get around to it, so instead here's a scan to show colour.

Mussels grow, often in extensive beds, anchored to rocks and stones by threads of byssus, a substance they secrete as a viscous fluid which hardens on contact with water.

Related Links

The Common Mussel (Mytilus edulis) body construction, life cycle and ecology.

Murasakiigai (that's Japanese, above, for Common Mussel) a Japenese/English description of the mussel on the Bisyogai Micro Shells site. I can't follow the Japanese but apparently this little figure, which appears to be constructed of shells, can be purchased at the Bisyogai shop - you have been warned!

Hope there are no conservation issues associated with the shells offered for sale on this site, I'm not qualified to comment on that.

richard@willowisland.co.uk

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