A team of researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology reports that quagga mussels are now the primary regulator of the phosphorus cycle in the lower four Great Lakes. ...
Reproduction of native and invasive bitterling fishes and their hybridisation was studied in Japan. We collected mussels in which these bitterlings lay their eggs, kept them in aquaria, collected eggs/larvae ejected from ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 04, 2021
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35
"If you eat mussels, you eat microplastics." This was already known to a limited extent about mussels from individual ocean regions. A new study by the University of Bayreuth, led by Prof. Dr. Christian Laforsch, reveals ...
Environment
Dec 17, 2020
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Common starfish cannot survive amplified marine heatwaves projected at the end of the century and experience lasting negative effects from current heatwaves, according to new research being presented on at the British Ecological ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 14, 2020
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3
Fan mussel populations—the biggest bivalve mussel in the Mediterranean—are endangered due to the severe parasitosis caused by the protozoan Haplospridium pinnae since 2016. Now, a study published in the journal Frontiers ...
Ecology
Dec 11, 2020
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9
Blue mussels in the Baltic Sea are getting smaller with time but bigger in numbers, according to a new study from Stockholm University. Analyzing data from the last 24 years, the main reason for this appears to be changes ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 27, 2020
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5
The increased temperature and acidification of our oceans over the next century have been argued to cause significant physical changes in an economically important marine species.
Ecology
Oct 09, 2020
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20
Shannon Meseck, a NOAA Fisheries research chemist and marathon runner, was initially interested in how ultra-runners can tolerate higher levels of carbon dioxide than non-athletes. A chance conversation with a medical doctor ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2020
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2
Mussels secrete sticky plaques that help them attach to wet surfaces, such as rocks on the beach. These adhesive structures are rich in iron, which is thought to help make the attachments strong yet flexible. Now, researchers ...
Environment
Jul 29, 2020
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2
COVID-19 is a major global shock that has turned our lives upside down, but how does it measure up on the grand billion-year scale of Earth history? The answer puts our human dramas in the largest perspective—and may yet ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 28, 2020
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Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels)
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalve molluscs, 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 colonized 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 color 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, and similar habitats. These bivalves belong to several allied families, the largest family being the Unionidae. They are not closely related to saltwater mussels; they are taxonomically 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 similar manner, using a byssus. They are classified with the Heterodonta, the taxonomic group which includes most of the bivalves commonly referred to as "clams".
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
