The Acceptability of Pebbles and Mussel Shells in Tile Making

Mussel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Not to be confused with muscle.

| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |

Mussel |

|

Blue mussels Mytilus edulis in the intertidal zone in Cornwall, England |

Scientific classification |

Kingdom: | Animalia |

Phylum: | Mollusca |

Class: | Bivalvia |

Subclasses |

Pteriomorphia (marine mussels)

Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels)

Heterodonta (zebra mussels) |

Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.

The word "mussel" is most frequently used to mean the edible bivalves of the marine family Mytilidae, most of which live on exposed shores in the intertidal zone, attached by means of their strong byssal threads ("beard") to a firm substrate. A few species (in the genus Bathymodiolus) have colonised hydrothermal vents associated with deep ocean ridges.

In most marine mussels the shell is longer than it is wide, being wedge-shaped or asymmetrical. The external colour of the shell is often dark blue, blackish, or brown, while the interior is silvery and somewhat nacreous.

The word "mussel" is also used for many freshwater bivalves, including the freshwater pearl mussels. Freshwater mussel species inhabit lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, canals, grouped in a different subclass, despite some very superficial similarities in appearance.

Freshwater Zebra mussels and their relatives in the family Dreissenidae are not related to previously mentioned groups, even though they resemble many Mytilus species in shape, and live attached to rocks and other hard surfaces in a...